Lawyers ask SC: Compel Senate disclosure of draft report on flood control mess

A group of lawyers on Monday asked the Supreme Court (SC) to compel the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee to disclose the draft report on its investigation into alleged anomalies in flood control projects.

In their 26-page petition, lawyers Eldrige Marvin Aceron, Sikini Labastilla, and Purificacion Bartolome-Bernabe also asked the High Court to issue, without a hearing, a temporary restraining order or status quo ante order directing the Senate and the Blue Ribbon Committee to keep and protect all versions of the draft report—especially the copy signed by the senators who later withdrew.

“Ito ’yung draft na walang halong pulitika. You know what happens. Pinag-uusapan nila. Nagkakaroon ng bargaining, nagkakaroon ng kumbinsihan, nagkakaroon ng balatuhan. That’s why nababago ’yung report,” Aceron said in an ambush interview.

(This is the draft with no politics involved. You will get to know what really happened. They discussed it. Then there was bargaining, persuasion, and horse-trading. That’s why the report gets changed.)

“This is the clean report before politics came into the picture. This is what should be released—’yung totoo bago sila namulitika (the truth before politics set in),” he added.

Aceron said it was important to track any changes between the original draft and the subsequent version of the report.

The subject of the petition is the draft committee report, which the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee was poised to make public last month, detailing the panel’s recommendations based on its investigation into the flood control corruption controversy.

According to Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson, the draft report recommends the filing of criminal and administrative charges against Senators Joel Villanueva, Jinggoy Estrada, and Chiz Escudero, former Senator Bong Revilla, former Ako Bicol Party-List Representative Zaldy Co, and former Caloocan Representative Mitch Cajayon-Uy.

Their alleged involvement stemmed from the testimonies of former officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways that the implicated officials supposedly acted as "proponents" of flood control projects in their respective districts or areas of influence that were later flagged for alleged overpricing, duplication, or questionable implementation.

It also cited their alleged ties to favored contractors who reportedly won multiple flood control projects and from whom the senators allegedly received kickbacks.

The contents of the draft committee report became so contentious that they reportedly sparked moves to change the Senate leadership.

Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III later confirmed that three senators—Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri and Senators JV Ejercito and Sherwin Gatchalian had withdrawn their signatures from the draft committee report.

In their petition, the lawyers not only sought the release of the draft report but also asked the SC to issue a writ of mandamus compelling the committee to make the document public.

As an alternative, if the writ of mandamus is denied, they asked the High Court to issue a writ of certiorari voiding the letter that denied their request for access to the draft report.

The petitioners also asked the SC to direct Zubiri, Ejercito, and Gatchalian to submit written explanations regarding their withdrawal of signatures from the draft report.

GMA News Online has sought comment from Lacson and the other senators and will update this story once they issue their response.—MCG, GMA Integrated News