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Friday, September 02, 2005
79 signatures ‘just a dream’
Malacañang said the opposition should learn “when to throw in the towel,” adding that the 79 signatures needed to start a Senate impeachment trial of President Arroyo is just “a dream.”
Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said that while the decision of the House committee on justice has yet to be confirmed by the plenary, he believes it will be approved.
The committee has rejected two impeachment complaints against President Arroyo and found the third insufficient to start a trial.
The formation of the truth commission that will look into the allegations of electoral cheating against Arroyo is no longer a priority for Malacañang.
Right now, Bunye said, the President’s focus is on the constitutional commission, the passage of the anti-terrorism bill and the search for alternative sources of oil.
But Karen Tañada, a member of the civil society groups pushing for the creation of the truth commission, said she believes Malacañang is afraid the opposition could use this as the next venue to revive the issues against Arroyo.
Meanwhile, the Archdiocese of Cebu urged the President to speak up and tell the truth on the allegations that she cheated in last year’s elections, or else the Filipino people will take to the streets.
Streets
Cebu Archdiocesan media liaison officer Msgr. Achilles Dakay said the President should submit herself to the impeachment proceedings.
“The hungry and angry will come out in the streets and do something worse...something else that would not be good for the country,” Dakay said.
Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal left for Manila yesterday morning and could possibly meet with other bishops to take up the impeachment issue.
Vidal earlier said he was saddened by the turn of events in the House of Representatives, with the opposition’s walkout and the vote against the impeachment complaints.
Dakay said the President should remember that the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines did not ask her to resign, but called on her to tell the truth and face the impeachment proceedings.
Rep. Antonio Yapha Jr. (Cebu, 3rd district) declined to comment on the impeachment issue, saying he has not read the complaints, while Rep. Simeon Kintanar (Cebu, 2nd district) was non-committal.
“My stand has always been loyalty to the Constitution and rule of law and, at the same time, respect for her (Arroyo’s) presidency,” Kintanar said.
Quit
Bohol Gov. Erico Aumentado, on the other hand, challenged Rep. Clavel Asas-Martinez to resign from the Commission on Appointments because she was supposed to represent the Lakas party there.
But since she joined the pro-impeachment legislators, Aumentado said Martinez (Cebu, 4th district) has expelled herself from the party.
Martinez could not be reached for comment.
Rep. Nerissa Soon-Ruiz, for her part, is happy with the outcome of impeachment hearings, but admitted she is being persuaded to sign complaints.
Akbayan party-list Rep. Mario Aguja, who was in Cebu yesterday for a health workshop, defended the opposition lawmakers’ walkout during the House committee hearing last Tuesday. He said they received information about the possible outcome of the hearings.
“We already knew that they will approve the Lozano complaint, and we already knew that they will dismiss the same,” he said.
Hunted
In Malacañang, Bunye shrugged off the claim of Negros Oriental Rep. Jacinto Paras that Arroyo “would still be hunted by the truth.”
Bunye said said they have nothing against the filing of another similar complaint against the President after a year, since the Constitution prohibits more than one impeachment proceeding within one year.
Lawyer Ernesto Francisco Jr. believes all is not lost. He said the Supreme Court can still set aside the decision of the House committee on justice to reject the amended complaint of the opposition.
Francisco said the dismissal of the amended version of the impeachment complaint “is not rendered moot and academic” pending the High Court’s ruling on the petition for injunction that he filed Wednesday.
“The fight is still on. The proceeding is not yet complete, so the court can still act on my petition,” he said, adding that the House would still have to vote on the report of the justice committee in plenary, before the impeachment proceeding is completed. (Sunnex)/JGA/LLV/MBG)
(September 2, 2005 issue)
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