Senate archives impeach complaint vs Gutierrez

MANILA (Updated 11:09 a.m.) -- The House resolution, impeaching former ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez, was referred to the archives Monday morning.

At its first legislative session after the recess, the Senate voted in plenary to refer Gutierrez's impeachment case to the archives after her resignation on April 29 made a trial unnecessary.

Gutierrez tendered her resignation to President Benigno Aquino III, 10 days before the supposed Senate trial on impeachment case filed against her.

The resignation of Gutierrez, an appointee of former President and now Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, took effect last May 6.

Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III said the House committee on justice had already written the Senate saying the resignation made Gutierrez's impeachment moot.

Sotto said the Senate had to dispose of the impeachment resolution "to allow the Senate to focus on more urgent and vital legislation."

Earlier, Senator Juan Ponce Enrile said impeachment proceedings may no longer push through following Gutierrez's resignation.

The six articles of impeachment earlier approved by the House of Representatives are as follows: the fertilizer fund scam, the anomalous Mega Pacific deal, the Ombudsman's failure to prosecute those involved in the Euro Generals case, the inaction on the NBN-ZTE broadband project under the Arroyo's administration, the inexcusable delay in concluding its investigation into the wrongful death of Ensign Philip Pestano, and the low conviction rate recorded in the Ombudsman's office from 2008 onwards. (Jonathan de Santos/Sunnex)