The Supreme Court denied a temporary restraining order sought by three lawyers to preserve all versions of a Senate blue ribbon panel report on a flood control scandal involving lawmakers.
In a two-page resolution issued on April 29 and made public on Friday, the high court turned down the plea for a TRO and status quo ante order. The petition for mandamus and certiorari, filed on March 2 by lawyers Eldridge Marvin Aceron, Sikini Labastilla and Purificacion Bartolome-Bernabe, remains pending without due course granted.
The court directed Sen. Panfilo Lacson, chair of the blue ribbon panel, along with Senators Juan Miguel Zubiri, JV Ejercito and Sherwin Gatchalian, to comment on the petition within 15 days. Aceron welcomed the ruling, noting that it allows arguments before the en banc on whether legislative drafts can remain privileged after public disclosure by the chairman.
The panel’s draft report had recommended plunder and other criminal charges against Senators Jinggoy Estrada, Joel Villanueva and Francis Escudero. Those senators have denied the allegations. Zubiri, Ejercito and Gatchalian later withdrew their signatures from the draft to review the final version.
