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Thursday, October 30, 2003
Vote showdown on Davide looms
By Jasmin G. Suma-oy with AFP
NUMBERS will decide the battle in Congress over the impeachment of Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr.
Lawmakers against Davide’s impeachment are ready for a showdown when sessions resume on Nov. 10 and some congressmen will move to transmit the Articles of Impeachment to the Senate.
Rep. Antonio Cuenco (Cebu City, south) has House Speaker Jose de Venecia’s permission to speak against the motion when this is presented on the floor, prior to a vote.
But while Cuenco is optimistic that there are enough lawmakers to outvote the motion, Rep. Raul del Mar (Cebu City, north) warned that the pro-impeachment faction “can muster enough numbers to ram it through.”
“Mas daghan sila (They have the numbers),” del Mar told Sun.Star.
He explained that the average attendance in the 226-member House is 120 to 130. Since there are 86 to 93 signatories — that figure is no longer clear, after some changed their minds — the pro-impeachment forces have a clear majority.
After moving for adjournment and an early recess last Wednesday, del Mar urged constituents to ask their representatives in the House to oppose the move to impeach Davide.
A consensus was also reached during a multi-party caucus yesterday that Congress will question the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court (SC) over the House, a co-equal branch of government.
Speaker de Venecia said Congress will send its lawyers to the SC hearing on Nov. 5, but neither he nor Senate President Franklin Drilon will attend.
Settlement
De Venecia also conceded that sending the complaint to the Senate for trial will be “bad for the country,” but that legislators were left with no choice but to follow the Constitution.
“There is a system of checks and balances in our country, and we might have to transmit the impeachment complaint (to the Senate), unless a settlement comes before the reconvening of Congress on Nov. 10,” de Venecia said.
Senate President Frank-lin Drilon branded the SC order as “premature and baseless” but also promptly rejected calls for a special session, saying it might be used to squeeze the impeachment complaint past the House, in defiance of the High Court’s call for a status quo.
President Arroyo yesterday urged Congress and the Supreme Court to resolve what she described as a harmful standoff that is “causing our nation and democratic system more harm than good.”
The House leadership suspended sessions on Tuesday to allow time for a settlement.
But de Venecia said the High Court raised the stakes when it ordered Congress to “maintain the status quo,” effectively preventing the House from sending the impeachment complaint to the Senate for trial.
Jurisdiction
Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr. will file a “petition to intervene” before the Supreme Court to question its “status quo” order, which he described as improper “no matter how diplomatically it was worded.”
“It is not about the chief justice. I believe in his integrity. But we are talking about the unconstitutional act of the Supreme Court,” Pimentel said.
Rep. Clavel Asas Martinez (Cebu, 4th district) said that although Congress has an in-house lawyer, the lawmakers decided to hire private lawyers to represent them in the scheduled oral arguments on Nov. 5 in the Supreme Court.
Martinez, a lawyer, said the SC cannot question the acts of the House because the Constitution granted it power to create its own internal rules.
Cuenco and Martinez were the only two Cebuano representatives that joined the congressional leaders’ caucus held yesterday at Edsa Shangri-la, while policemen verified a bomb threat directed at Congress.
Del Mar said he did not attend because he had a feeling that the group will agree on the transmittal of the impeachment complaint to the Senate.
Leadership
He explained that the early adjournment last Tuesday was an important victory, in that it prevented the transmittal of the Articles of Impeachment and bought time for coming up with a solution by Nov. 10.
“I hope we’ll be able to consolidate and augment our strength to turn the tide by Nov. 10 and an honorable settlement can be worked out, which will preempt the transmittal when we convene,” del Mar said.
House members supporting the impeachment reportedly wanted to try transmitting the Articles of Impeachment today, fearing the SC might issue a ruling that will cripple Congress.
But this suggestion was not carried in yesterday’s caucus.
Cuenco said that while the anti-impeachment bloc may have the numbers, everything depends on de Venecia’s leadership.
If de Venecia “railroads” the transmittal of the impeachment complaint to the Senate, this could cause trouble in the House that might lead to his removal as speaker, said Cuenco.
(October 30, 2003 issue)
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