MANILA -- The House justice committee continues Tuesday morning its hearing into two impeachment complaints against Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez.
Justice committee chair Niel Tupas Jr. said the sufficiency in substance is the agenda for the hearing.
“The requirement of substance is met if there is a recital of facts constituting the offense charged and determinative of the jurisdiction of the committee,” Tupas explained to the committee.
Earlier, committee members voted in favor of declaring the two complaints as sufficient in form.
Former Akbayan Representative Risa Hontiveros, together with Retired Brigadier General Danilo Lim and Evelyn and Felipe Pestaño -- parents of Phillip Andrew Pestano, a deceased Philippine Navy Ensign who allegedly had knowledge about the involvement of Navy officials in illegal activities, filed the first impeachment case against Gutierrez.
Another impeachment case was lodged by progressive groups.
Meanwhile, Tupas himself is said to be facing a case before the Ombudsman for alleged "ghost seminars," according to the complainant himself, Iloilo Vice Governor Rolex Suplico.
In the first hearing, members of the opposition party demanded that Tupas inhibit himself from the proceedings because of a pending case against his father who was found guilty by the Office of the Ombudsman of dishonesty and grave misconduct concerning an airport project in his province.
"Why he did not disclose to the committee that he himself has a pending case? That is essential because it would change the complexion of the entire proceedings," said Iloilo Representative Ferjenel Biron. (Kathrina Alvarez/Sunnex)