Ombuds asked to reply on impeach raps

WITHIN 10 days, the House Justice Committee required Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez to submit her response on the impeachment complaints filed against her at the House of Representatives.

This came after the committee declared the two complaints as sufficient in form and substance last week, according to committee chair Niel Tupas Jr. (fifth district, Iloilo).

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For his part, Deputy Speaker Lorenzo "Erin" Tanada III said: "This is the first time that we will allow the respondent to answer the charges, this is what they are asking, due process."

He noted that the previous impeachment complaints against the Ombudsman failed the "due process" proceedings when allies of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo immediately "killed" it.

With members of the majority voting for the sufficiency in substance, Bayan Muna Representative Teddy Casino said that Palace finally shown its support for the cases.

"I think Malacanang made its decision. Yung sinasabi naming na matagal na hindi nararamdamanm, medyo naramdaman na ngayon, sana magtuloy-tuloy," Casino added.

Meanwhile, former Akbayan representative Risa Hontiveros appealed to Tupas not to give-in to the dilatory tactics of certain congressmen who are allies of Gutierrez.

"We respectfully advise the good committee chair not to yield in to Gutierrez's 'legal bodyguards' in Congress. Based on our experience, they used the determination of sufficiency in substance to derail the process," she said.

Voting 41-14, the complaint lodged by Hontiveros against the Ombudsman was declared sufficient in substance. Another impeachment case filed by progressive groups led by Bayan was also declared the same with 41-16 votes.

Should the complaint be dismisses based on the reply of Gutierrez, the committee will defer it to the plenary to either affirm or overturn the decision.

The next hearing of the cases is set at September 21.

Tupas's ghost seminars

Meanwhile, Tupas himself is also facing a graft case before the Ombudsman for alleged "ghost seminars", according to Iloilo Vice Governor Rolex Suplico.

In the first hearing, the opposition demanded Tupas to inhibit himself because of a pending case against his father, Tupas Sr., whom the Office of the Ombudsman indicted for dishonesty and grave misconduct.

Suplico said he filed the complaint in October 2008 because of the three "ghost seminars" organized by the Iloilo lawmaker when he was still a board member of the provincial council.

Three checks, each amounting to P50,000 were issued for the catering services in the seminars, but Suplico said these did not take place and the attendance list was fabricated. (Kathrina Alvarez/Sunnex)