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Wednesday, July 13, 2005
Critics to try impeachment
In a change of tactics, opposition legislators said they will now endorse an impeachment complaint already filed by a private citizen in Congress.
They had previously shunned this route for fear that President Arroyo’s allies, who are in the majority, will block it.
Rep. Ronaldo Zamora conceded the procedure “is not going to be easy. The House opposition is outnumbered by the majority, nine to one.”
They will present the “strengthened” impeachment complaint against the President later this month, as massive anti-Arroyo demonstrations are set to take place in Makati and Cebu cities today.
A broad coalition representing different sectors under the Gloria Step Down Movement (GSM) is out to prove that Cebu is not “Gloria country” as it pushed for the creation of a transitional body to “cleanse” the government.
Lawyer Gloria Lastimosa-Dalawampu, GSM spokesperson, said their group does not want Vice President Noli de Castro, Senate President Franklin Drilon or House Speaker Jose de Venecia to take over Malacañang.
Instead, with the transitional government in place, the 1987 Constitution should be suspended so there can be a “weeding out of impeachable officials.”
‘Recycled’
As GSM made the call, representatives of political parties in Manila agreed to work on changing the form of government from a presidential to a parliamentary system to promote stability.
However, lawyer Democrito Barcenas, former Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) Cebu City chapter president, said a constituent assembly is “totally unacceptable.”
“We reject this method proposed by discredited and recycled politicians, like (former president) Fidel Ramos,” he said.
In a press conference at the IBP Cebu City social hall yesterday, GSM also announced the launching of a signature campaign and the protest march from Gaisano Metro on Colon St. to Malacañang sa Sugbo at 10 a.m. today.
Tourist only
Jaime Paglinawan of Bayan Central Visayas said if Arroyo survives long enough to deliver her State of the Nation Address on July 25, they will gather a bigger crowd for a dawn march and hold a transport strike.
“She is welcome to come to Cebu as a tourist,” Paglinawan said, eliciting laughter.
The Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 has prepared several members of the Regional Mobile Group to augment the forces of the CCPO.
They also coordinated with the Central Command should they lack crowd control personnel.
Since Friday afternoon, the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) has placed the city under a “full heightened alert.”
Parents who bring their children to protest rallies may face charges, police warned yesterday.
Acting Cebu City Police Director Melvin Gayotin said if they see children caught in the middle of a melee with crowd control personnel and protesters, they have no choice but to get them out of the way and charge the parents with child abuse.
The PNP has also cautioned all its members against joining protest actions supporting calls for the President’s resignation.
In a statement faxed to Sun.Star Cebu, acting public information officer Supt. Erson Digal said the PNP Legal Service has cited provisions in the PNP Law and the Code of Professional Conduct and Ethical Standards prohibiting police personnel in active service from joining partisan political activities.
No mass leave
PNP Chief Arturo Lomibao said the police force will not succumb to a “vile deception of going on mass leave.”
“We are aware of the efforts by some individuals enticing members of the PNP to participate or support political moves calling for the resignation of the President. My guidance to all personnel is to ignore these calls and strictly follow the chain of command,” the statement quoted Lomibao.
The President has been buffeted by demands for her to quit over accusations she cheated in last year’s elections, as allegedly shown in wiretapped conversations with an election commissioner.
Ten Cabinet members, former president Corazon Aquino, some business organizations and small parties that were part of the ruling coalition called for her to go.
Turning sour
However, former president Fidel Ramos and allies in Congress and local governments reiterated their support.
In a crucial weekend development, the influential Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) declined to tell Arroyo to resign.
A Church-based movement in Cebu supported the stand of the CBCP, describing it as a “refreshing burst of wisdom in an otherwise agitated atmosphere threatening to tear us apart as a nation.”
“Fruits ripened artificially often turn sour, not sweet. Violence cannot be an option. Those calling for extra-constitutional measures propose the possibility of a headless nation, with pockets of self-proclaimed messiahs without legal mandate lording it over the rest of us,” said the statement, signed by Fr. Carmelo O. Diola, vice chairman of Barug Pilipino. (CYR/MEA/JST/(AFP)
(July 13, 2005 issue)
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