Lawmaker supports Corona’s impeach verification

Saturday, December 31, 2011

A HOUSE leader allied with former President and Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has expressed support for a move to check the validity of an impeachment complaint against the country’s Chief Justice.

House Minority Leader Edcel Lagman also denied that the move indicated in a motion filed by Chief Justice Renato Corona in the Senate is not dilatory but necessary.

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Lagman said it is physically impossible for the 188 signatories to have read and understood the 57-page complaint in a couple of hours, given the admission that only four hard copies were available during the caucus.

”It is not sufficient that a third party explained to the complainants the contents of the complainant or showed to them a power point presentation. Personal reading and appreciation of the complaint is mandatory,” he said in a statement.

This much was also claimed by Corona and his legal team who earlier filed a motion requesting for a preliminary hearing before the Senate convenes as an impeachment court for the trial.

Corona claims the move to impeach him was accomplished “like a thief in the night” in the House of Representatives since the lawmaker-signatories were able to sign the resolution in a matter of hours.

The House opposition leader further said that since the verification was the “speed ticket” which made it possible for the complainants to immediately transmit the impeachment case to Senate, then a preliminary hearing on the same is in order.

”Clearly, overkill can boomerang and inordinate alacrity can breach the rules,” Lagman said.

Lagman explained that there is a valid verification under the House Rules of Procedure in Impeachment Proceedings if the complainants swear under oath that they “have read the contents” of the complaint, and that “the allegations therein are true of our own knowledge and belief on the basis of our reading and appreciation of documents and other records pertinent thereto.”

If the verification is found to be flawed, then the Senate must dismiss the eight articles of impeachment against the Chief Justice or return the infirm complaint to the House of Representatives to complete the verification, the lawmaker said.

The House prosecution panel earlier said that the motion for a preliminary hearing is just one of Corona and his teamÕs dilatory tactics. (Kathrina Alvarez/Sunnex)