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Wednesday, May 24, 2006
Palace has 'spies' among opposition lawmakers
MANILA -- Banking on the administration's "closet" allies at the House of Representatives, Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez Sr. said he is confident that the bid of opposition lawmakers to remove President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo from power through a new impeachment complaint will not succeed.
Without naming names, Gonzalez said, there are several lawmakers who belong to the opposition "but are actually discreet supporters of Arroyo and her programs".
He advised the minority bloc at the House, led by Sorsogon Representative Francis Escudero to regularly conduct loyalty checks among its supposed members lest it again fall into a false sense of security come counting time.
"I know some of the opposition who are in the closet. (They are) opposition wanting to be with the majority," he said.
He said the minority would not be able to muster the necessary 79 votes to automatically elevate the impeachment complaint to the Senate once the "closet" administration lawmakers come out in the open.
"They (opposition) can play poker. If they keep their cards close to their chest, it would still be futile. They have been talking before that they have 79, that they have so much but the ending was 50, something like that. If you make a headcount now, it's less than that, I think," he said.
Last September, the House of Representatives, voting 158-51, junked the three impeachment complaints against Arroyo, which include betrayal of public trust, culpable violation of the 1987 Constitution, bribery and graft and corruption.
Gonzalez said the secret pro-Arroyo lawmakers have in fact already expressed their intention to sign a resolution constituting the Senate and the House of Representatives into a Constituent Assembly (Con-Ass) for the purpose of amending the Constitution.
At present, he said the pro-administration bloc has already gathered 185 signatures in support of forming a Con-Ass to revise the Constitution.
The number, according to Gonzalez, is only less than 10 of the required 195 votes.
Opposition lawmakers earlier disclosed that they have started preparing for the filing of a new impeachment complaint against the President next month or in July, when Congress opens its third and last regular session.
Aside from election fraud and graft and corruption, the opposition said they will include the recent adverse decisions of the Supreme Court (SC) on President Arroyo's Executive Order (EO) 464 on prohibiting government, military and police officials and personnel from attending Congressional hearings without her permission; Proclamation 1017 declaring a state of national emergency last February 23 to March 3; and the calibrated preemptive response (CPR) to strengthen the new impeachment complaint.
Meanwhile, Lingayen Archbishop Oscar Cruz said Malacañang's effort in blocking the opposition from filing a new impeachment complaint against Arroyo "is an indirect admission" that she is guilty of the charges.
"Placing all obstacles for an impeachment to proceed can be readily interpreted as an indirect admission of guilt," Cruz said.
He also said that by not allowing the impeachment process to take place "can be anything but the way of the prudent and wise."
Cruz also said it is obvious that the Arroyo government is not concerned about the political disturbance that the impeachment would bring but more on the possibility that those in power would likely be booted out if the impeachment case succeeds.
Cruz said the purpose of impeachment is basically to find out the truth and to render justice.
"Such fundamental objective of the impeachment process is clearly over and above political considerations, beyond the system of profits and rewards. To do what is right is not an option. Truth knows no party. Justice is for all," he added. (ECV/MSN/Sunnex)
(May 24, 2006 issue)
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