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Wednesday, August 02, 2006
Majority backs Arroyo impeach case revival: survey
MANILA -- More than half or 56 percent of Filipino adults believe that the impeachment complaint against President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo should be reactivated, a June 24 to July 8 survey of Pulse Asia showed.
The survey, which had 1,200 respondents, showed that a majority in all geographic and socioeconomic classes--from 53 percent to 68 percent--believe that the impeachment complaint should be resurrected.
The only exception is in the Visayas, where 64 percent think otherwise.
The figures are generally consistent with those recorded in March 2006.
In October 2005, 53 percent of Filipinos said the complaint against the President should have been discussed more fully by the House committee on justice and that the complainants should have been allowed to present evidence before the decision to dismiss the complaint was made in September.
Among those who want to have the complaint reactivated, 61 percent said there is a need to determine the truth regarding the accusations against Arroyo.
The other reasons mentioned were: the need to ascertain the legality of Arroyo's victory so that other serious problems can be effectively addressed (17 percent); last year's decision to reject the impeachment complaint was partisan (11 percent); the need to address questions on the legality of Arroyo's win to safeguard government's stability (seven percent); and destabilizers can use the charges of electoral fraud should the impeachment complaint not be reactivated (three percent).
Among those who do not want to reactivate the impeachment complaint, 34 percent said the issue was already settled last year and that it would only be a waste of time for Congress. Nineteen percent said the issue distracts attention from more critical concerns, and another nineteen percent said destabilizers are just using the issue to gain power.
However, 14 percent said it is useless because the impeachment complaint will just be decided on by the same congressmen. Another 13 percent said it is better not to rely on legal means to resolve such political matters.
Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said Pulse Asia's findings are contrary to the picture that Malacañang is getting. He said there is another survey showing that more than 50 percent want to move on.
Bunye said an impeachment is a "dead issue" and would be counterproductive.
"We have achieved a very respectable growth rate. The different indicators of confidence are there, the stock market is very strong, the currency is strong, inflation is down, so why rock the boat at this time?" he asked.
Arroyo's allies in the House of Representatives had met secretly on Tuesday to discuss the fate of the impeachment complaints filed against the President even as they said the issues discussed "were not entirely about the impeachment issue."
Ilocos Sur Representative Salacnib Baterina said each of the eight lawmakers present were assigned tasks ranging from the determination of the prejudicial questions, the common allegations in the eight complaints, to the substance of the complaint.
The meeting, which unfortunately excluded the minority bloc, also discussed which of the complaints would be excluded and which should be deliberated on.
Representative Joel Villanueva of the Citizen's Battle Against Corruption (Cibac) expressed doubts about the motive of the meeting. "Are they setting a trap?" Villanueva added.
Villanueva said he hopes that the meeting was not about how to crush the impeachment complaints.
Among those who attended the meeting, Baterina said, were Representatives Luis Villafuerte of Camarines Sur; Simeon Datumanong of of Maguindanao, chairman of the justice panel; Marcelino Libanan of Samar; Mauricio Domogan of Baguio City; and Edcel Lagman of Albay.
"We tried to assign people who will synthesize and find out common allegations--words that are commonly worded," Baterina said.
Baterina and Domogan, however, explained the meeting was called by Datumanong to iron out issues that could mar the impeachment proceedings and prevent a repeat of past mistakes.
"Prejudicial questions should also be ironed out," Domogan said.
Datumanong, meanwhile, dismissed the call of Ilocos Norte Representative Ma. Imelda "Imee" Marcos for him to inhibit from the impeachment proceedings because of his alleged bias for Arroyo, being a former member of the Arroyo Cabinet.
Datumanong was a former public works secretary and justice secretary of Arroyo.
Datumanong said he is not going to inhibit because the chairmanship of the justice committee was given to him by the House in plenary and it is the only body that could take the chairmanship away from him.
Members of the justice committee rallied behind Datumanong, describing as "unfair and baseless" the call for his inhibition.
Baterina and Representative Aurelio Umali of Nueva Ecija, committee vice chair and member respectively, said they saw no reason for Datumanong to stay out of the hearings on the impeachment complaints as he has consistently shown fairness in the resolution of the complaints against Arroyo last year. (JMR/DBP/Sunnex)
(August 2, 2006 issue)
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