Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson maintains that the Senate has no jurisdiction over the ethics complaint filed against Sen. Francis ‘Chiz’ Escudero and a similar case that may be lodged against another colleague.
Lawyer Marvin Aceron filed the complaint against Escudero early this month. It stems from the P30 million campaign contribution he allegedly received from a contractor friend during the May 2022 elections.
Lacson raised the possibility that the Office of the Ombudsman may recommend a similar complaint against Sen. Joel Villanueva regarding his alleged involvement in the pork barrel scam when he was representative of the Cibac party-list.
However, he noted that the alleged offenses committed by Escudero and Villanueva happened before their election to the Senate.
‘The jurisdiction of the Senate committee on ethics does not cover offenses allegedly committed by the members of the Senate before being elected as senators,’ Lacson explained in a Viber message on Tuesday.
‘Both Sens. Escudero and Villanueva were not sitting senators when the alleged violations were committed. Hence, they may raise a jurisdictional issue at the proper time, unless the said rule has been amended,’ he added.
He also said he could attest to this rule in the Senate, as he was also slapped with an ethics case during his first term as senator in 2001.
At that time, Lacson said he ‘was subjected to all forms of harassment, including fabricated and fictitious bank accounts, illegal drugs, and other trumped-up charges’ while he was still police chief.
‘When we read the rules, we discovered such a provision, which I invoked, and thereafter, the ethics complaint was dismissed due to lack of jurisdiction,’ he explained.
Lacson first talked about the matter when asked in OnePH’s interview on Monday about the aborted plan of the Office of the Ombudsman to seek Villanueva’s dismissal.
In the interview, Lacson explained that members of Congress are not covered by the Ombudsman’s suspension or dismissal orders.
If at all, Lacson said, the Ombudsman may recommend to Congress to initiate an ethics case against its member.
‘But then again, in the case of Senator Villanueva, we also have rules in our Senate ethics committee stating that its jurisdiction only covers offenses allegedly committed while we are serving as senators,’ he said.
Lacson said the same is true in the case of Escudero, who was still governor of Sorsogon when he accepted the campaign donation from a private contractor.
The filing of criminal cases against erring members of Congress, however, is a different matter, he also stressed.