JV Ejercito: Up to ethics panel to consider Comelec ruling on Escudero case

Members of the Senate committee on ethics and privileges will be the ones to assess whether or not they will consider the decision of a Commission on Elections (Comelec) department which cleared Senator Francis "Chiz" Escudero of wrongdoing in connection with the P30-million campaign donations he received for his 2022 senatorial bid, Senator JV Ejercito said Friday.

Ejercito, who chairs the committee, said that while the membership of the panel has yet to be completed, they will tackle Escudero's case as a collegial body. 

"Depende 'yan kung ano ang magiging desisyon ng—, collegial body tayo, ng mga miyembro. So whether to take it into consideration itong desisyon ng Comelec or not, o ibasura ito at tuluyang ituloy ang kaso, so depende po 'yan kung ano ang magiging desisyon ng buong miyembro ng ethics committee," he said in a Super Radyo dzBB interview.

(That depends on what will be the decision of the members because we are a collegial body. So whether or not to take the decision of the Comelec into consideration, or to discard it and proceed with handling the case, that depends on the decision of the entire ethics committee membership.)

In November 2025, the Comelec Political Finance and Affairs Department (PFAD) cleared Escudero and Centerways Construction and Development Inc. president Lawrence Lubiano in connection with the P30-million campaign donations the senator received from the latter.

Teacher John Barry Tayam later on filed a petition with the Supreme Court seeking to nullify the Comelec department ruling.

Ejercito himself is facing an ethics complaint filed by Atty. Marvin Aceron over gross neglect of constitutional duty for supposedly sitting on the complaint against Escudero. 

The lawyer argued that it has been over a hundred days since the complaint against Escudero was filed, yet up to now, Ejercito has supposedly not taken any action on the matter. 

Possible committee members

Ejercito, however, maintained that the ethics committee cannot hold hearings yet as it has not been constituted for its members have yet to be formally manifested and approved on the floor. 

He said that among the possible members of the Ethics committee would be Senators Bam Aquino and Francis "Kiko" Pangilinan from the majority bloc, and Senator Joel Villanueva from the minority bloc. 

He also emphasized that the committee will hear cases based on a "first in, first out" rule.

"Sa nag-file sa akin ng ethics complaint, eh gusto niya parang unahin 'yung finile niya laban kay Senator Escudero. Meron ho tayong rules dito, first in, first out. Depends on the date of filing. Siyempre may nauna rito eh, kung 'di ako nagkakamali apat o lima na 'yung may ethics complaint," Ejercito said.

(The person who filed the ethics complaint against me seems to want us to prioritize his complaint against Senator Escudero. We have rules here, first in, first out. It depends on the date of filing. Of course, there were cases filed here before. If I'm not mistaken, there are four or five senators who are facing ethics complaints.) — VDV, GMA Integrated News