Saturday, October 11, 2008 3 impeach raps to be filed vs Arroyo
THREE impeachment complaints will be filed against President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Lawyer Harry Roque of the University of the Philippines (UP) Law Center said the impeachment cases would be filed at the House of Representatives at 3 p.m. Saturday, midnight of Sunday, and 9 a.m. Monday.
Roque said the first complaint on Saturday will mark the year since the last impeachment case against Arroyo was filed, the lapse of the one-year ban under the Constitution, and the start of filing new cases against the President.
"The filing on Sunday will mark the end of the one-year ban under the country's Constitution," Roque said, adding that he, along with various opposition and civil society personalities, would go to the House on Monday to file the third one.
He said National Broadband Network (NBN) witness Jose "Joey" de Venecia III, son and namesake of former House Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr., is one of the complainants.
The younger de Venecia testified in the Senate regarding the alleged anomalous US$329 million NBN deal entered into by the Philippine government with China's ZTE Corporation.
Joey's company, Amsterdam Holdings, participated in the bidding for the NBN deal won by ZTE Corporation.
The resulting public outcry forced the Arroyo government to cancel the implementation of the multimillion-dollar contract.
Aside from Joey, civil society groups Black and White Movement (BWM) and Concerned Citizens Group will also take part in the complaint.
Among the issues that have been raised in the complaint were the botched NBN contract, the multibillion-peso NorthRail project, which the UP Law Center said was "disadvantageous" to the Philippine government, and the controversial Joint Maritime Seismic Understanding regarding the exploration of oil and other resources at the South China Sea.
Also included was the botched agreement that would pave the way for the creation of a Bangsamoro Juridical Entity (BJA) and an expansion of the current Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (Armm) to include more than 700 barangays under the BJA to be governed by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
President Arroyo will be charged with violation of the 1987 Constitution, betrayal of public trust, and graft and corruption.
Lawyer Roque said party-list representatives from Bayan Muna, Anakpawis, Akbayan, and Gabriela would endorse the complaints.
Since coming fire for her alleged participation in election cheating in the 2004 presidential elections, a charge Mrs. Arroyo denied, opposition and civil society groups had filed impeachment raps but all were rejected by the House, where the administration party holds a majority.
Last year, lawyer Ruel Pulido filed a similar complaint, which was endorsed by Laguna Representative Edgar San Luis. A similar move was initiated by lawyer Elly Pamatong last July.
In 2005 and 2006, lawyer Oliver Lozano also filed an impeach rap against the President but nothing came out of it.
Malacañang officials dismissed the new impeachment complaints against President Arroyo as "a part of another empty accusation and propaganda."
Political adviser Gabriel Claudio said the complaint is not surprising since it came from "certified GMA-haters."
Claudio, however, is confident that if the case is filed, the House would dispose of it with "dispatch, judiciousness and concern for the national interest."
"The case will not fly for at least two reasons: One, it is bereft of any legal grounds, for example, the President cannot be held legally liable for any of the issues raised; two, the proximity of the 2010 elections and the current global financial turmoil make such a move look absolutely unnecessary, distractive and destructive," he said.
He said Congress and the public, including those against the administration or identified with the opposition, would prefer to wait for the 2010 elections to effect changes in the national leadership.
"I believe that they are also imbued with enough concern for the national good to prefer that the country focus on measures to fortify our economy in the face of the challenges of the raging global economic crisis instead of spending our time and our effort on nuisance political issues," Claudio added.
Deputy presidential spokesman Anthony Golez agreed, saying that while the world is being preoccupied with the "worst" global economic crisis, the President's critics are still being kept busy politicking.
"Time and events have proven us that critics of the administration have been throwing empty accusations for personal interests," he said as he belittled the complaint.
Press Secretary Jesus Dureza, for his part, branded the complaint as "a classic example of propagandist Roque's carpet bombing ploys and twisted imagination." (AH/JMR/Sunnex)
