Curlee Discaya filed petition for certiorari vs Senate detention —lawyer

Contractor Pacifico “Curlee” Discaya has filed a petition for certiorari before a Pasay City court to question his detention at the Senate, his lawyer Atty. Cornelio Samaniego III said Wednesday.

“Last September 23 pa siya nakakulong. Hindi po tayo pinalad na bigyan ng pagkakataong makalaya siya pamamagitan ng petition for habeas corpus,” Samaniego told GMA Integrated News’ Unang Balita in an interview.

(He has been detained since September 23. We were not lucky enough to be given the opportunity to release him through a petition for habeas corpus.)

“Pero may pending petition po ulit kami. Base din sa desisyon ng korte na nag-decide sa petition for habeas corpus na dineny niya na dapat daw po ay petition for certiorari. Meron po kaming pending ngayon dyan sa Pasay City court,” he added.

(But we have a pending petition again. Also, based on the decision of the court that decided on the petition for habeas corpus that it has denied, the petition should have been for a certiorari. We have one pending now in the Pasay City court.)

A petition for certiorari aims to correct errors of jurisdiction committed by the lower court or grave abuse of discretion.

According to Samaniego, when the Senate hearing into the issue is over, individuals with contempt orders should be released. 

Samaniego also emphasized that Discaya has no intention to hide from authorities.

“Wala po. Kagaya ni Ma'am Sarah Discaya at Maria Roma Angeline Rimando, wala po silang balak. Lahat po ng mga pagdinig sa Senate, Lower House, [Independent Commission for Infrastructure], [Department of Justice], uma-attend po kami lahat. Tumatalima po kami lahat. Wala po kaming liban,” he said.

(No. Like Ma'am Sarah Discaya and Maria Roma Angeline Rimando, they have no plans to escape. All the hearings in the Senate, Lower House, Independent Commission for Infrastructure, Department of Justice, we all attended. We all followed. We have no absences.)

Discaya was cited in contempt by the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee for lying about the absence of his wife, Sarah, during a hearing on anomalous flood control projects on September 18.

The Senate has stood firm in its decision in citing Discaya in contempt, saying that the order was issued within the upper chamber’s constitutional authority.

The Discayas are under probe after their construction firms were tagged in the anomalies in the country’s flood control projects. 

They own the Alpha and Omega General Contractor & Development Corporation, one of the 15 companies named by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. that secured 20% of the flood control projects in the country.  —Joviland Rita/ VAL, GMA Integrated News