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Daphne Galvez - The Philippine Star
May 28, 2026 | 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — Former Senate president Francis Escudero is facing a plunder complaint before the Office of the Ombudsman for allegedly receiving P586 million worth of kickbacks from flood control projects.
Citing Escudero’s counter-affidavit, GMA News reported that the Field Investigation of the Office of the Ombudsman found that Escudero had indirectly received kickbacks of P306 million and P280 million from flood control projects, based on testimonies of former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Undersecretary Roberto Bernardo.
The kickbacks were allegedly collected by Maynard Ngu, the alleged bagman of the senator and who also supposedly contributed P30 million to his campaign kitty for the 2022 elections.
In his counter-affidavit, Escudero denied the allegations saying he did not authorize Ngu to act on his behalf and the complaint did not show he had received the money.
He also said Bernardo’s allegations were “different, evolving, and materially inconsistent,” pointing out that the former DPWH official did not mention the alleged P306-million kickback in the first three affidavits submitted to the Senate Blue Ribbon committee.
“It appeared for the first time only in his affidavit dated 13 March 2026 – submitted after the Ombudsman’s motu proprio investigation had already commenced,” the complaint affidavit read.
‘Restitution an option’
Persons implicated in the multibillion-peso flood control scandal may still avoid criminal or administrative liability by returning stolen public funds, Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla said yesterday.
At a press briefing, Remulla stressed that restitution remains open even as plunder charges are being prepared against several personalities linked to the controversy such as Sens. Jinggoy Estrada and Joel Villanueva.
“I don’t want to have people jailed, but if there’s a way out, we should use it. Restitution is still an option,” he said.
Remulla likened the situation to a stolen cellphone being returned to its owner.
“When you retrieve your phone, you just want to go home, you don’t want to press charges anymore. We’re just human. Restitution is always open, we can always talk about it and we can always agree if people are reasonable,” he said.
The ombudsman stressed that the government will not agree to reduced repayments.
“There should be no haggling. They should return everything,” he said.
Flood control cases should be resolved within two years, unlike previous cases that dragged on for over a decade, he stressed.
“We don’t want these cases to be filed and remain pending for 15 years,” he said.
Ping sees vindication
Meanwhile, Sen. Panfilo Lacson said the ombudsman’s move vindicated the findings of the Senate Blue Ribbon committee inquiry he led into flood control anomalies.
It was during the Blue Ribbon hearings that the names of Estrada and Villanueva surfaced after dismissed Bulacan district engineers and state witness former public works undersecretary Roberto Bernardo tagged them as alleged recipients of millions in kickbacks from substandard or non-existent flood control projects.
Their names were later included in the committee’s partial report submitted to the ombudsman.
“Ombudsman (Jesus Crispin) Remulla’s announcement that plunder, malversation and other cases will soon be filed with the Sandiganbayan against the same government officials implicated in the Blue Ribbon committee’s partial report on the flood control anomaly is a vindication of our findings and recommendations,” Lacson said on X.
He acknowledged the sensitivity of the investigation, saying it was painful to see fellow senators implicated in the scandal.
“It is not a pleasant thing to see some of our colleagues face charges or jail due to the flood control scandal,” Lacson said.
“But painful as it is, I have always maintained that we will go where the evidence leads us. We will not force ourselves to look for evidence that will target certain people, including our colleagues in the Senate,” he said. – Marc Jayson Cayabyab
