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Wednesday, July 06, 2005
Arroyo willing to face impeachment
MANILA -- First came the admission. Now, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is ready to face the impeachment complaint at the House of Representatives. The President welcomes the complaint to give her the "proper constitutional venue" to dispute allegations that she cheated in last year's elections.
Arroyo, fighting for survival amid a crisis that has roiled the financial markets, sparked street protests and triggered fears of military intervention, said through her spokesman she wants the nation to calm down.
"Hopefully, this move (impeachment) will quiet down the political environment," spokesman Ignacio Bunye said in a statement. "The impeachment is uncalled for and will just be a waste of time."
House Speaker Jose de Venecia, an Arroyo ally, has said he will ask the House justice committee to tackle an impeachment complaint filed late last month by lawyer Oliver Lozano against the President for allegedly betraying public trust.
It follows the release of an audiotape in which the President can be heard talking to a senior election official. She has denied trying to fix the election.
Lawyer Jose Rizaldo Lopez, a private citizen, also filed an 11-page complaint Monday noon at the House Secretary General's Office, in which he accused the President of betraying public trust.
Palawan Representative Antonio Alvarez, a member of Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino (Kampi), immediately endorsed the complaint.
Lopez's charges are similar to those in Lozano's complaint, which alleged that the President cheated in the last election.
Comelec calls
Meanwhile, Senator Juan Ponce Enrile admitted that he, too, called up an election official during the canvassing of votes.
Enrile said there is nothing wrong with calling up a public official, especially since he was a private citizen at that time and had no authority to influence anybody.
"Yes, I called up (Commission on Elections) Chairman Benjamin Abalos once. It was during a time that I was being pushed down in the standings," Enrile said.
Enrile said the call was made when he was relegated to the 11th position and he received reports of irregularities in the counting.
Senator Sergio "Serge" Osmeña III said a candidate calling up an elections official during the election period may be considered unethical but it still depends on the reason for the call.
"If it is merely to make sure that the candidate is not being cheated, then the call is justified," Osmeña said.
Gathering
Enrile's admission came as Alan Paguia, a former lawyer for deposed president Joseph Estrada, acceded to playing all the wiretapped tapes at the resumption of the House of Representatives' investigation Tuesday.
Here in Cebu, some 100 leaders from different sectors in the province are expected to attend a gathering tomorrow to counter the moves calling for the President's ouster.
The Office of the External Affairs of the Office of the President, in cooperation with Lakas Pinoy-Gawin Natin, a non-government organization, sent an invitation to Capitol.
Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia would have been the keynote speaker but because she is on an official trip abroad, Vice Governor Gregorio Sanchez Jr., who is the acting governor, will be the one to attend.
Jarvis Prochina of Lakas Pinoy Cebu said the conference will serve as the venue for the people to express their sentiment.
"We are only giving opportunity to the basic sectors and the masses to air their opinion," Prochina said.
Numbers game
Garcia and the Provincial Board have expressed support for the Arroyo administration, with the governor organizing a unity rally.
The board believes that the constitutional process of impeachment should take its course and that the opposition should not call for Arroyo's resignation as it is "devoid of basis in law and in fact."
Arroyo's allies have a majority in the House justice committee and could vote to stop the complaint being sent to the full House. Should her allies lose any vote in the committee, the complaint would go to the full House, where a one-third vote would send the charges to the Senate for trial.
House Minority Leader Francis Escudero has expressed wariness over the impeachment route, describing the complaint as flawed and a trap that would give Arroyo the opportunity to beat the rap.
Instead, the opposition has encouraged street protests, apparently in the hope of persuading key sectors of society like the military, the Roman Catholic Church and the middle class to withdraw their support for Arroyo. (Sun.Star Cebu/PNA/Sunnex)
(July 6, 2005 issue)
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