MANILA (UPDATE) - Solicitor General Jose Calida and his family have asked the Supreme Court to stop the Senate's investigation into government contracts bagged by his family's security firm.

Minority senators earlier filed a resolution urging the Senate to look into government contracts awarded to the Calida-owned Vigilant Investigative and Security Agency Inc. (VISAI).

SolGen Jose Calida and family ask SC to stop Senate probe into government contracts entered into by Vigilant Investigative and Security Agency, Inc. SC directs respondent Sen. Trillanes to file comment within 10 days. | via @InaReformina pic.twitter.com/PDMpADalSw

— ABS-CBN News (@ABSCBNNews) August 16, 2018

In a 39-page petition against opposition Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, Calida, his wife Milagros, and children, Josef, Michelle, and Mark Jorel, accused Trillanes of grave abuse of discretion in setting a public hearing and summoning them over the issue “in the absence of a resolution by the Senate or any of its committees approving the proposed resolution directing the conduct of an inquiry in aid of legislation.”

Trillanes’ Committee on Civil Service, Government Reorganization and Professional Regulation is behind the inquiry.

Calida questioned the committee’s jurisdiction to investigate specific conflicts of interests of certain individual government officials, as he pointed out that the Blue Ribbon Committee has jurisdiction over their case since the latter focuses on legislation needed to address accountability issues involving public officers “and not on actual or possible violations done by specific performance.”

Calida also maintained that Trillanes’ resolution was a “mere proposed resolution” and is not intended to aid legislation.

“[Trillanes] decided on his own to conduct an inquiry inviting petitioners (Calida family), as witnesses, on Proposed Resolution No. 760… While petitioners recognize that the Senate Committees are authorized in general to conduct inquiries, petitioners assert that respondent has legal authority to order the conduct of the legislative inquiry on his own.

“[T]he committee mainly consists of matters relating to rules and policies of civil service and the status of officers and employees of government as these apply or are applicable to all employees.”

The subject resolution states Calida still owns 60 percent of VISAI's shares as of September 29, 2016 "or after two months after he assumed office [as Solicitor General].”

It further states that "from August 2016 to January 2018, VISAI won 14 government contracts, two of which were with the Department of Justice and amounted to P12.4 million and the nine of which were won after he assumed the position of Solicitor General."

Calida, however, stressed the proposed resolution is aimed at “selectively” targeting his family as violators of law.

“There are no acts or omissions attributable to the petitioners that can possibly shed light on the proposed resolution,” the Calida petition stated.

The high court has directed Trillanes to respond to the petition within 10 days.