Lawyer Marvin Aceron called out Senate Ethics Committee Chairman Senator JV Ejercito for not giving a formal response to his complaint regarding Senator Chiz Escudero’s ties to Centerways Construction owner and Escudero Senate campaign contributor Engineer Roberto Lubiano. Centerways was awarded P16.67 billion in DPWH government contracts during the current Senate term.

Atty. Aceron submitted his complaint to Sen. Ejercito’s office on 2 October 2025 and followed it up with an Omnibus Motion on 20 October that was also submitted to the Senate. As of 5 November, the lawyer had yet to receive a formal response from the Senate Ethics Committee, a violation of Section 5 (a) of Republic Act 6713, which orders all public officials and employees to respond to communications sent by the public within 15 working days from receipt.

On 5 November, Sen. Ejercito posted on his official Facebook account that the Ethics Committee will be constituted next week and will process complaints against individual senators on a “first in, first out” basis.

Atty. Aceron said that he appreciated Sen. Ejercito’s public explanation, but it was insufficient. “My complaint was filed October 2 or 35 days ago. I have received no official acknowledgment, case number, or Senate correspondence of any kind,” he argued. “A Facebook post is not a substitute for official institutional communication,” Atty. Aceron emphasized.

Together with hundreds of signatories to an open letter addressed to Sen. Ejercito, Atty. Aceron is requesting the following before the Senate session resumes:

1) an official written acknowledgment of his 2 October complaint; 2) case number assignment; and 3) confirmation of the “first in, first out” processing order. He is also requesting the following once the Ethics Committee is constituted: 1) official publication of committee membership; 2) official timelines for complaint processing; and 3) official institutional correspondence moving forward.

Atty. Aceron challenged Sen. Ejercito to live up to his moniker as. “The Good One.” The lawyer said, “Senator Ejercito, I take you at your word about integrity and due process. But integrity and due process require documentation, not social media posts.”

More than 200 Filipino citizens, led by Constitutional Commissioner Prof. Ed Garcia and National Artist for Literature Virgilio Almario, have signed the open letter urging Senate Ethics Committee accountability.

“Dapat talaga malaman kung sino ang tapat maglingkod sa bayan. Hindi ‘yung laway lang,” Almario said to explain why he signed the open letter.

Prof. Ed Garcia said, “High time that our public officials respond and not hide from the people. As we strive to overcome the flood waters of corruption, we must demand that our elected officials become transparent and accountable.”