A call to monitor the Ethics Committee has been made amid committee Chair Senator JV Ejercito’s official confirmation of the receipt of the complaint against Senator Chiz Escudero.
The office of Senator JV Ejercito, Chair of the Ethics Committee, has sent an official letter to Atty. Marvin Aceron regarding the ethics complaint against Senator Chiz Escudero that the lawyer submitted to the Senate last October 2.
In the signed letter sent on November 6, Senator Ejercito acknowledged the receipt of the Atty. Aceron’s inquiry, and confirmed three other pending complaints before the Senate; he also committed to the “first in, first out” processing of the complaints when the committee organizes during the week of November 10-14, 2025.
Sen. Ejercito assured, “The Committee will proceed immediately after it is organized, its members are duly elected and its internal rules are adopted. In keeping with the fairness and transparency, the Committee intends to deliberate on the four pending complaints filed against individual senators in the order they were received, following a ‘first in, first out’ approach. As the Chairperson, I am committed to carrying out our mandate with integrity, impartiality and full respect for due process. ”
Atty. Aceron acknowledged Sen. Ejercito’s letter, saying, “The evidence remains: ₱35M in discrepancies in the SEC financial statements submitted by Sen. Chiz’s campaign donor Lawrence Lubiano of Centerways Construction, ₱30M in donations by Mr. Lubiano to Sen. Chiz’s senate campaign, ₱16.67B in DPWH contracts obtained by Centerways during the current senate term. Now, we have a written commitment from Sen. JV that the Senate Ethics Committee will investigate.
“I take Sen. JV at his word. When the Senate session resumes this coming week and the Ethics Committee is constituted, I, and the more than 300 signatories of the Open Letter for Senate Ethics Committee accountability, expect our complaint to be tackled first.”
While Atty. Aceron welcomed Sen. Ejercito’s response, he said that the public must not let up. Addressing his fellow citizens, Atty. Aceron said, “We got an official letter with commitments after 35 days of silence. This proved that our citizen mobilization works. Sen. JV has committed to action ‘immediately.’ Now is the time for the community to verify. The people are demanding one thing: ‘Does the Senate Ethics Committee actually work?’ We must watch vigilantly.”
Following the next steps in a proper institutional process, the lawyer and his supporters expect their complaint to be assigned a case number and a timeline for the preliminary investigation. “We also expect that the official complaint log—showing all four complaints and filing dates—and the referral to respondent for answer, will be made public,” Atty. Aceron added.
Prior to November 6, the private lawyer had submitted to Sen. Ejercito’s office the open letter twice. On November 11, Atty. Aceron will deliver the open letter again to the Senate; this time signed by more than 300 signatories led by Constitutional Commissioner Prof. Ed Garcia and National Artist Virgilio Almario.
Atty. Aceron’s side continues to gather signatures for the open letter to compel the Senate Ethics Committee for transparency and impartiality. The open letter may be signed in person at the Aceron Law Office at Room 301 Grace Building in Greenhills, San Juan, or online at https://forms.gle/CZNhu5PQKq87kCkJ6
