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Monday, August 29, 2005
Opposition at dead end in impeach drive: legislators
MANILA -- Two administration congressmen had said that the opposition may have lost steam and reached a "dead end" in the pursuit of more signatories to the amended impeachment complaint against President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
"They (opposition congressmen) are trying to bluff their way. Their purpose is to mislead those whom they are inviting to sign," said Camarines Sur Representative Luis Villafuerte in a statement.
Villafuerte said the opposition's claim that they are keeping additional signatures under wraps so as to insulate members of the House of Representatives from pressure from the majority is an insult to those they claim to represent.
Tactics0
He said that if the proponents of the impeachment case have the signatures of 79 House members, they have absolutely no reason to hide and "cry pressure."
Villafuerte said that: "The psy-war tactics of the opposition will end up as an exercise in futility."
House Deputy Majority Leader Arthur Defensor of Iloilo said 180 House members are against the amended complaint because the 1987 Constitution and the law prohibit more than one impeachment complaint within one year.
"We must follow the Constitution and the rule of law. It is very clear that those pushing for the amended complaint are violating the 1987 Constitution and going against an earlier ruling by the Supreme Court (SC)," he said.
Defensor and Villafuerte said that because the impeachment complaint has been reduced to a numbers game, the opposition may have reached a dead end.
"They (opposition congressmen) are trying to make it sound as though it is romantic to vote with them. But their move is clearly against the 1987 Constitution," said Villafuerte.
Majority of the ruling coalition members have also expressed concern about bringing the impeachment case to the Senate for trial. The Senate, he said, is a kangaroo court composed of the rabid opposition and the group of Senate President Franklin Drilon, which he accused of plotting to bring down the Arroyo Government.
Not alarming
The pro-impeachment bloc had two more signatories last Friday but House Majority Leader Prospero Nograles said the trickle of two defections is not alarming.
Nograles said seven opposition members have had talks with him to find out how they can withdraw their signatures from the complaint at the proper time.
One endorser of the complaint, Alliance of Volunteer Educators (AVE) party-list Representative Eulogio Magsaysay, withdrew his signature last week.
Villafuerte said that with 180 members solidly with the majority coalition, the most the opposition could muster in the 236-member Chamber would be 56.
But with seven more signatories about to follow the lead of Magsaysay, it is highly doubtful if they could reach 56, he said. (JFF/Sunnex)
(August 29, 2005 issue)
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