Ex-senator files raps vs Ombudsman (12:55 p.m.)
FORMER Senator Jovito Salonga on Monday submitted an impeachment complaint against Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez at the House of Representatives.
Together with 31 lawyers and civil society leaders, Salonga filed raps against Gutierrez for culpable violation of the Constitution and betrayal of public trust.
In a 33-page complaint, the Mega Pacific case, the World Bank controversy, the Commission on Elections issue involving former chairman Benjamin Abalos Jr., the extortion case against former Justice chief Hernando Perez and the P728M fertilizer fund scam were included.
The complaint was accepted by House Secretary-General Marilyn Barua Yap.
Akbayan Representative Risa Hontiveros-Baraquiel, together with Camarines Norte Representative Liwayway Vinzons-Chato, endorsed the complaint.
Hontiveros said Gutierrez should be impeached “without delay to restore the trust of the people on the Office of the Ombudsman” and added that she has “tarnished the institution with her incompetence” and her connections with the Arroyo family.
She also appealed to congressmen to act on the complaint with haste.
“I challenge my fellow representatives, especially those from the administration, to rise above their partisan obligations and endorse the complaint.”
Civil society leaders, for their part, in a statement said “Ombudsman Gutierrez has clearly failed the Filipino people with her inaction, mishandling and downright dismissal of clear cases of graft and corruption, some leading to the President (Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo) herself and her closest associates.” (Justine Paredes/Sunnex)
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