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Friday, June 30, 2006
4th impeachment complaint lodged v. Arroyo
MANILA -- A daughter of government critic Makati City Mayor Jejomar Binay led student leaders from various universities in Metro Manila in filing on Thursday the fourth impeachment complaint against President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Marlen Abigail Binay, along with 15 college students, filed the complaint before House secretary-general Roberto Nazareno's office before 10 a.m.
The student leaders who were among those who filed the complaint come from the University of the Philippines (UP), Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP), Ateneo de Manila University, University of Sto. Tomas, St. Paul's College, and University of the East.
The complaint is the fourth one filed this week and was endorsed by Representative Ruy Elias Lopez of Davao City.
Following the filing, former Vice President Teofiston Guingona warned of civil disobedience if the bid to impeach Arroyo does not prosper.
The young Binay, who leads Youth Dare (Demanding Arroyo's Removal) and member of the Stop Charter Change Movement, said her move to join in the impeachment bid has the blessing of her father, a known opposition leader seeking the resignation of Arroyo.
"Of course I came here with the blessings of my father but I would not have signed the impeachment complaint if I didn't believe in the sufficiency of the complaint," she told reporters.
The fourth complaint was the same as the first three complaints filed by more than 200 members of civil society and militant groups, former Vice President Teofisto Guingona Jr., and Caloocan Bishop Deogracias Yniguez.
Marlen urged administration congressmen to give the new impeachment complaint a second look and allow the complainants to present to the public their evidence on alleged misdeeds of the Arroyo government.
"Let's look at the impeachment complaint with an open mind. They should give us the opportunity to present our evidence this time. The problem with the first impeachment complaint was that they (Arroyo allies) did not even listen to us," she said.
In a statement, the group Youth Dare, a member of the militant organization Anakbayan, said they represent student leaders from the League of Filipino Students, Collage Editors Guild of the Philippines, NUSP, and others.
Anakbayan chairperson Eleanor de Guzman said they wanted "to make sure that Arroyo and her allies are left with no reason to quash the impeachment on technicalities," adding that their move signifies their intent to "search for truth, justice, and good governance."
"As future leaders and responsible citizens, it is every young Filipino's moral obligation to set the bar for public servants and strive for a better Philippines for generations to come," said Youth Dare spokesman Raymond Palatino.
The student leaders also launched what they called the "Impeachment Monitor" or I-Monitor, where they will be observing the behavior of their respective congressmen. They threatened not to vote for them in the May 2007 elections if the complaints are junked anew.
Just like the previous complaints against the President, the latest one included the killing of militants and journalists, the alleged cheating in the 2004 presidential elections, the P728 million fertilizer scam, the alleged anomalous North Luzon Railway Project, and the supposed involvement of the First Family in the illegal numbers game jueteng.
It also cited the alleged Martial Law-type style of governance of Arroyo with her issuance of Presidential Proclamation 1017 on the declaration of national emergency, Executive Order 464, the ban on top officials to appear in congressional investigations without the approval of Malacañang, and the calibrated preemptive response policy against anti-government rallies, which were all struck down as unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.
Guingona said Thursday that civil society groups will resort to civil disobedience if allies of Arroyo in the House of Representatives will scrap the impeachment complaint against her.
At the "Kapihan sa Senado", Guingona said civil disobedience, which will include mass actions and work stoppage, will be their answer to the dismissal of the impeachment complaints.
"Students will not go to school to protest the scrapping, they may not attend school for one week. Civil service people may not report to work or slow down their work and Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) may only send the amounts needed to sustain their families, which will affect government earnings," he said.
Guingona also urged the people to prod their district congressmen to support the impeachment complaints. "If reelectionist congressmen will ignore the complaints, the people should not support them in the 2007 elections."
The former Vice President, a complainant in one of the impeachment cases filed at the House of Representatives representing the group Citizens Congress for Truth and Accountability (CCTA), refuted that the filing of the third impeachment complaint by Yniguez is in defiance of the principle of separation of church and the state.
"Bishop Yniguez is still a citizen who has the right to file the complaint, that was his conviction, that was his belief and his freedom, so there's no violation to the separation of the church and the state," Guingona said.
He said the grounds in the series of impeachment complaint against Arroyo are more specific, particularly on extra-judicial killings. The cases are detailed and the names of the victims were included.
"More than 600 people died in the extra-judicial killings and many of them did not even know about communism, they were just farmers who were only fighting for their rights," Guingona said.
Like Guingona, minority congressmen on Thursday defended Yniguez who was criticized by Malacañang and its allies for filing an impeachment complaint against Arroyo.
Reacting to claims of pro-administration congressmen that Yniguez should refrain from political affairs, in view of the principle of separation of church and state, House Minority Leader Francis Escudero and Agusan del Sur Representative Rodolfo "Ompong" Plaza said it was surprising to know that Malacañang and its allies have spoken about the principle of church and state when issues are not favorable to them.
Besides, they added, it is the bishop's right being a Filipino citizen to participate in the search of truth.
Escudero said it was President Arroyo herself who defied this principle of state and church when she claimed the other day that Pope Benedict VI has supported her administration's move to push Charter change.
Yniguez on Wednesday filed the third impeachment complaint, which was endorsed by Akbayan party-list Representative Loretta Ann Rosales.
The complaint was no different from the first and second complaints filed on Monday and Tuesday by civil society and militant groups, and by former Vice President Guingona.
Yniguez believed that the filing of a new impeachment complaint against Arroyo is one way to ferret out the truth to allegations of massive electoral fraud hounding her administration.
"Yes, it (impeachment complaint) maybe a waste of time, but it is still worth trying," said Yniguez.
Yniguez said the impeachment case he filed against Arroyo has nothing to do with politics.
He said he only wants unresolved issues to be cleared, including allegations of cheating, corruption, and extra-judicial killings, among others. "I don't see any other legal fora that are available to once and for all resolve the issues. So to me, this (impeachment) is worth trying," he said.
President Arroyo, meanwhile, said the government would look into possible violations that Yniguez might have committed when he filed an impeachment case against her Tuesday.
Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said this was Arroyo's reaction when informed of the series of impeachment cases being filed against her, including the one filed by Yniguez, which he said he was filing as a private citizen and not as a bishop.
Ermita said they would determine if the bishop's actuation remains within the conduct of a person connected with the Catholic Church as contained in the encyclical "Deus Caritas Est" that Pope Benedict XVI issued December last year.
The Pope gave Arroyo a copy of the encyclical during their meeting in Vatican on Tuesday.
He said he has an inkling that the Pope is telling Church leaders "not to participate in politics."
Ermita added that while Yniguez claims that he filed the case as an ordinary citizen, it is possible that some sectors, including his fellow bishops from the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), think that his action was sanctioned and supported by the church.
The encyclical states that faith "has no intention of giving the church power over the state. Even less is it an attempt to impose on those who do not share the faith ways of thinking and modes of conduct proper to faith. Its aim is simply to help purify reason and to contribute, here and now, to the acknowledgment and attainment of what is just." (DBP/REC/MSN/JMR/Sunnex)
(June 30, 2006 issue)
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