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Monday, July 25, 2005
House to take up impeachment
MANILA -- House Speaker Jose de Venecia said Sunday that he would place the two impeachment complaints against President Arroyo in the "Order of Business of the House of Representatives" once the second session of the 13th Congress opens Monday.
"I will exercise my Constitutional duty to place them (two impeachment complaints) in the Order of Business now, even if the same Constitution allows the luxury of 10 session days within which to exercise such a transmittal," said de Venecia in a statement.
He said that he will also transmit any amended complaints duly endorsed by a member or members of the House, not within 10 session days, but also as soon as he receives it.
He said the House "faces grave and urgent decisions that are of inestimable importance to our country."
Transparent
House Majority Leader Prospero Nograles joined de Venecia in making assurances that the House will "act according to the rules and to the Constitution and the leadership will be fair in the handling of the impeachment complaints."
"We will act swiftly and in a transparent manner," Nograles said.
He said the proposed rules on impeachment, which is substantially the same as the rules of the last Congress, will be subjected to a plenary debate after the President's State of the Nation Address (Sona).
"We are interested in having the rules swiftly approved. It is up to the opposition if they will stonewall or delay the approval of the rules of impeachment," Nograles said.
Weak case
Meanwhile, Press secretary and presidential spokesman Ignacio Bunye said the early objection to the President's answers to the impeachment case already hint that the complaint is "weak and even doomed from the start."
Bunye, in his weekly column "View from the Palace", defended President Arroyo's decision to file her reply before she is even officially asked to do so, stressing that it is her right to defend herself.
He said the political detractors of the President should not be sourgraping over her exercise of her legal right to defend herself as "it smacks of gross disrespect for the due process of law."
"The only reason we can think of why they (opposition) want to deprive the President of her right to defend herself is that the impeachment case against her is weak and doomed from the start. Are they admitting defeat this early due to their clear inability to gather evidence and credible witnesses?" he said.
Bunye said even the call of San Juan Rep. Ronaldo Zamora for the public to submit any information they have that could help the impeachment case indicates the weakness of the case.
In a continuing political crisis triggered by the controversial "Garci tapes"-alleged wiretapped conversations of Arroyo and an election official--the President faces two impeachment complaints filed against her last month, and the opposition bloc in the House has announced it would file an amended complaint.
Arroyo through lawyer Pedro Ferrer last Friday answered the impeachment case against the President filed by lawyer Oliver Lozano. (JFF/JMR/Sunnex)
(July 25, 2005 issue)
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