MANILA — A lawyer has filed an ethics complaint against Senator JV Ejercito, alleging he failed to act on a pending complaint against former Senate President Chiz Escudero more than three months after it was filed.

In a report, Lawyer Marvin Aceron submitted the complaint against Ejercito, chair of the Senate Committee on Ethics and Privileges, citing what he described as inaction on an ethics complaint filed in October 2025 against Escudero. The complaint involved a P30 million campaign donation from contractor Lawrence Lubiano during Escudero’s senatorial campaign.

In his 18-page filing, Aceron said Ejercito had not issued a case number, acknowledged receipt of the complaint, or provided any information on its status.

“He has not issued an acknowledgment, has not provided any information on the complaint’s status, and has taken no action whatsoever,” Aceron wrote, accusing Ejercito of gross neglect of constitutional duty.

“This failure is not mere negligence or administrative delay. After 109 days of complete inaction, it constitutes willful gross neglect of constitutional duty,” he added.

Aceron noted that the Senate had conducted hearings on other matters within days of filing complaints, and that even barangay offices typically issue case numbers within minutes. He said the complaint “offers the Senate a way forward: hold its Chairman accountable for abandoning his constitutional duty, and restore the integrity of the ethics process.”

Ejercito, in response, said the Ethics Committee has not yet been fully constituted and that the Senate had been preoccupied with the final stages of budget deliberations.

“Rest assured that the Ethics Committee will convene and hear pending cases once it is fully constituted and when session resumes. The said cases will be heard in order of filing,” he said.