Curlee Discaya files petition questioning Senate detention

The lawyer of contractor Pacifico “Curlee” Discaya on Wednesday disclosed the filing of a petition for certiorari before a Pasay City court questioning his detention at the Senate.

Atty. Cornelio Samaniego III said this on Wednesday as his client has been detained since 23 September, and they were not lucky enough to be given the opportunity to release Curlee through a petition for habeas corpus.

However, Samaniego said they have a pending petition again, which is also based on the decision of the court that decided on the petition for habeas corpus that it had denied; the petition should have been for a certiorari, which is pending in the Pasay City court.

A petition for certiorari aims to correct errors of jurisdiction committed by the lower court or grave abuse of discretion.

Samaniego said when the Senate hearing into the issue is over, individuals with contempt orders should be released.

Samaniego also emphasized that Discaya has no intention to hide from authorities.

“No. Like Ma'am Sarah Discaya and Maria Roma Angeline Rimando, they have no plans to escape. All the hearings in the Senate, Lower House, Independent Commission for Infrastructure, Department of Justice, we all attended. We all followed. We have no absences,” the lawyer said.

The Senate Blue Ribbon Committee cited Discaya in contempt for lying about the absence of his wife, Sarah, during a hearing on anomalous flood control projects on 18 September.

The Senate has stood firm in its decision in citing Discaya in contempt, saying that the order was issued within the upper chamber’s constitutional authority.

The couple is under investigation after their construction firms were tagged in the anomalies in the country’s flood control projects.

They own the Alpha and Omega General Contractor & Development Corporation, one of the 15 companies named by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., securing 20% of the flood control projects.