It was so sudden. SP Escudero was left clueless why members of the Minority were at his office that Monday morning (September 8), just a few hours before the Senate’s session in the afternoon. The message delivered by the group was crisp and clear: Escudero had to vacate his position forthwith.
With 15 senators going for Sen. Tito Sotto, it was all over for Escudero’s reign in the Senate. And in the plenary that followed, the coup de grace was complete with a motion by Senator Migz Zubiri declaring the SP position vacant.
Escudero’s fall from power is an abject lesson that in the Senate, power relationships among its members are always in a state of flux. Friendships have no permanence, as they are always dictated by the exigencies of the times and defined by one’s interests. Relationships could be as fluid as floodwaters, where millions of pesos were lost to corruption in projects designed to control it.
Escudero’s cookie pie began to crumble as a consequence of President Bongbong’s exposé on ghost flood control projects. A contractor from Escudero’s hometown in Sorsogon, Lawrence Lubiano, admitted donating ₱30 million to his 2022 Senate race.
In a Senate media briefing, Escudero admitted receiving the contribution, but he was quick to retort that it was made in the “personal capacity” of Lubiano, and not as president of Centerways Corporation, a firm among those named by President BBM as having cornered flood control projects in the country.
But Escudero’s explanation did not stick with citizens who have been enraged by the daily tales of massive corruption in ghost flood control projects. And with the Senate’s trust rating in free fall, the leadership of the Upper Chamber had become ripe for a leadership grab.
How five Minority senators accomplished the daunting feat of goading their Majority colleagues to jump ship is one modern tale of political brinkmanship that will be told and retold for days to come. That it was done with speed and silence added luster to the operations. Ultimately, it was not about Escudero’s survival, but a crusade to restore the dignity and relevance of the Senate in times of turmoil and upheaval in the current political landscape.
In the end, all the arrogance of power, all the swagger and maneuverings, and all the mangling of common dictionary meanings failed to prolong even a day of Escudero’s stay in power.
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AND BY THE WAY: The Oversight Committee of the Provincial Board is deep into its inquiry on the status of some 20 flood control projects in different parts of the province. A whopping 32% of the ₱2 billion loan was slated for flood control, with Discayas St. Timothy Construction Company getting the lion’s share of the projects. It will be interesting to uncover who the company’s local partners and enablers are!
