An ethics complaint has been lodged against Senate Deputy Majority Leader JV Ejercito, who chairs the Senate Committee on Ethics, for allegedly failing to act on a pending case against Senator Chiz Escudero.
The complaint, filed by lawyer Marvin Aceron, accuses Ejercito of gross neglect of duty, citing a reported 109-day delay in addressing an ethics complaint tied to a ₱30 million campaign donation to Escudero from contractor Lawrence Lubiano, owner of Centerways Construction.
“Today, we filed an ethics complaint against Sen. JV Ejercito, the Ethics Committee Chairman, for willfully failing to do his constitutional duty,” Aceron said.
“We’re not asking the Senate to move mountains. We’re asking them to do what barangays do in 5 minutes: ‘assign a case number,’” he added.
Ejercito, however, explained that the Senate had been preoccupied with budget deliberations in recent months, making it difficult to bring the complaint against Escudero before the plenary.
“On being named in the complaint, we recognize that everyone is entitled to their own opinion and has the right to raise concerns or seek appropriate remedies under the law. That is how democracy works. But I would also like to stress that we are a government of laws, and we will proceed in accordance with Senate rules and due process,” Ejercito said in a statement.
He assured that once the Ethics Committee is fully constituted, all pending cases will be processed in line with established Senate procedures.