A group of lawyers on Monday petitioned the Supreme Court of the Philippines to compel the Senate to make public the draft report of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee linking several lawmakers to allegedly anomalous flood control projects.
In a petition for mandamus and certiorari, lawyers Eldrige Marvin Aceron, Sikini Labastilla, and Purificacion Bartolome-Bernabe asked the high court to direct the Senate panel to officially release its partial committee report.
The draft report, cited last month by Senate President Pro Tempore and committee chair Panfilo Lacson, reportedly recommended the filing of plunder and other charges against Senators Chiz Escudero, Joel Villanueva, Jinggoy Estrada, and others.
Aceron said the public has the right to know how the report was revised and who initiated the changes.
“Ang mahalaga kasi sa akin, syempre mas maganda i-plunder na kaagad, mahalaga sa akin makita ko paano binabago iyon paano binago, sino nagbago, paano nagbaguhan kasi doon natin malalaman, kakampi ba natin talaga ang mga senador na ito o hindi,” Aceron told reporters.
The issue intensified after Vicente Sotto III disclosed that Senate Majority Leader Migz Zubiri, Senate Deputy Majority Leader JV Ejercito, and Senator Win Gatchalian had withdrawn their signatures from the draft report.
Before the high court, the petitioners argued that Article III, Section 7 of the 1987 Constitution — which upholds the public’s right to information — should be interpreted in line with the internationally recognized Principle of Maximum Disclosure.
They also asked the tribunal to issue a temporary restraining order preventing any alteration of all versions of the draft report, including the copy bearing the original signatures of Zubiri, Gatchalian, and Ejercito.
The petition further seeks to compel the three senators to submit written explanations for withdrawing their support.
“They should not turn the Senate into a country club na sila-sila lang nakakaalam,” Aceron said.
He also questioned the lawmakers’ decision to reverse their position.
“Ang tanong naman diyan when you signed it di niyo ba inaral? Ang palagay kong nangyari, may kumausap sa kanila, may nagbulong sa kanila at ayaw nilang ipasabi sa atin ang kaototohanan,” he said.