SC denies TRO bid to preserve draft Blue Ribbon report on flood control mess

The Supreme Court has rejected the petition for a temporary restraining order (TRO) to keep the Senate and its Blue Ribbon Committee from destroying, altering, concealing, or revising all versions of the draft committee report on the flood control projects investigation.

The SC en banc issued the resolution dated April 29, 2026 to deny the petition by lawyers Eldrige Marvin Aceron, Sikini Labastilla, and Purificacion Bartolome-Bernabe for mandamus and certiorari to issue a TRO and/or status quo ante order for the preservation of the draft committee report.

The high court likewise ordered the respondents—Senators Panfilo “Ping” Lacson, Juan Miguel Zubiri, JV Ejercito, and Sherwin Gatchalian, and the Senate President—to comment on the petition within 15 days from notice of the resolution.

Currently, all committee chairmanships and memberships at the Senate are vacant, following the leadership coup on Monday, which elected Senator Alan Peter Cayetano as the new Senate President.

Before the leadership change, Lacson was the chairman of the powerful Blue Ribbon Committee and led most of the hearings into the flood control controversy.

At least seven senators have signed the partial flood control report, which has yet to be filed and sponsored in the plenary.

Zubiri, Ejercito, and Gatchalian withdrew their signatures from the draft version.

Lacson previously said the report was poised to recommend filing criminal and administrative charges against senators and former lawmakers in connection with its investigation into anomalous flood control projects.

This includes Senators Francis "Chiz" Escudero, Joel Villanueva, and Jinggoy Estrada, as well as former Senator Bong Revilla, former Ako Bicol Party-List Representative Zaldy Co, and former Caloocan Representative Mitch Cajayon-Uy.

The individuals have denied the allegations. –NB, GMA News