Court affirms Senate power to detain Curlee Discaya
The Pasay City Regional Trial Court Branch 297 has dismissed the petition filed by contractor Pacifico “Curlee” Discaya II, as it affirmed the Senate’s authority to cite him in contempt.
In a decision promulgated Feb. 23, the court said Discaya failed to provide evidence that the Senate committed grave abuse of discretion.
It pointed out that the Senate blue ribbon committee conducting an investigation into anomalous flood control projects met all three constitutional safeguards, namely, the probe must be in aid of legislation; there must be duly published rules of procedure for the conduct of the investigation and lastly, the rights of persons appearing in, or affected by, the investigation must be respected.
Constitutional safeguards
“In the present case, all three constitutional safeguards are satisfied,” the court said.
It noted that Sen. Panfilo Lacson, the committee chair, was “explicitly mindful of due process” and even directed the petitioner to explain why he should not be cited in contempt.
Discaya was cited for contempt when he was questioned about the absence of his wife, Sarah, in one of the hearings.
While he said her absence was due to health issues, a letter from Sarah that was received by the committee said the sole and exclusive reason for her nonattendance was a scheduled employee meeting.
“Petitioner (Curlee) has neither purged himself of contempt nor has the legislative inquiry terminated. His continued detention, therefore, rests on solid constitutional and jurisprudential ground, and his continued availability for the investigation serves a legitimate and subsisting legislative purpose,” the court said.
However, it cautioned the committee and the Senate that legislative contempt “must not be weaponized as an instrument of indefinite punitive detention.”
It told the Senate to “act with dispatch” on Discaya’s motion for reconsideration on his contempt case.
The Discayas are facing several cases for tax evasion and questionable flood control projects.
