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Wednesday, August 16, 2006
Arroyo impeach case dealt 2 blows by majority
MANILA -- The House pro-impeachment group on Tuesday suffered a twin setback when the House committee on justice junked two of its requests -- to allow the body to vote separately on each of the allegations and to allow a complainant to participate in the debates.
The committee had yet to decide on Tuesday if the impeachment complaint against President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was sufficient in substance. The body earlier declared the complaint filed by the Black and White Movement (BWM) as sufficient in form.
On the third day of the hearing on the impeachment complaint against Arroyo, Parañaque City Representative Roilo Golez appealed to the committee that they vote on each allegation leveled against the President instead of voting on it as a whole.
The committee, voting 47 to 18, junked the request of Golez. Prior to that though, Maguindanao Representative Simeon Datumanong, chairman of the House justice committee, allowed the pro-impeachment group to explain its request.
Explaining the motion of Golez, House Deputy Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano asked that the appeal be considered by the committee, claiming that such is the most logical, practical, and fair method.
"Paano ba nating masasabi na factual o may basehan ang mga akusasyon kung hindi natin ito iisa-isahin (How can we say that it is factual or the accusation has basis if we do not tackle it one by one). If we will not go to these causes of action one by one, it will just create an injustice to our people," Cayetano said.
By bringing up the allegations one by one, Cayetano added, "malalaman natin kung sino ang dapat ma-clear o hindi dapat maisama (we would know who should be cleared or should not be included in the complaint)."
The movement has accused Arroyo of culpable violations of the 1987 Constitution, betrayal of public trust, graft and corruption, and other high crimes. Under the three causes of action, the complainants have enumerated various irregularities that Arroyo allegedly committed.
Administration congressman Luis Villafuerte of Camarines Sur, who described the impeachment complaint as "chopsuey" and "ukay-ukay (a mix of things)", said voting separately on the many allegations was premature since the body is only at the stage where it has to decide on the sufficiency of substance of the complaint.
"If the sufficiency in substance is met, then we will call the President to answer the allegations, then a reply will be filed, then affidavit and counter affidavit are also filed, then that is the only time the committee will have to determine if there are grounds for impeachment," he said.
"We appeal to them to follow the rules, we need to discuss and debate on the essential requisite," he added.
The pro-impeachment group at the same time failed to convince the committee that at least one of the many complainants in the impeachment complaint be given the chance to participate in the debate.
Davao City Representative Ruy Elias Lopez appealed to Datumanong to give the complainants or one of their lawyers the chance to participate in the debates.
Lopez, who chairs the house committee on good government, said most of the committees allow citizens to participate, especially those who are complaining. If is therefore only fitting for the committee to allow a complainant to participate in the discussion on whether the complaint is sufficient in substance or not.
"Maybe for us, to help determine the substance of the complaint, let us give time to the complainants," he said.
But Datumanong said this reasoning Uy cannot be applied in the House committee on justice hearing an impeachment complaint the President.
"This is not just an ordinary committee, this is so authorized by the Constitution and not simply by the rules of the House. That is why we cannot accommodate the request," Datumanong said.
He added that only members of the committee and endorsers are allowed to participate in the debates.
Endorsers who are not members of the committee however have no voting power.
The committee has yet to commence on Tuesday the debate on whether the complaint is sufficient in substance.
Datumanong gave both the majority and the minority two hours each to defend their respective positions.
House Majority Leader Prospero Nograles said voting on the sufficiency in substance might not take place Tuesday night since the House is scheduled to deliberate on the supplemental budget.
At Malacañang, Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye belittled the opposition's claim that it has seven boxes of evidence in the impeachment complaint against President Arroyo.
Bunye, who is also Presidential spokesman, said Arroyo's critics will employ all known "cinematic effects" for their smear campaign but "they should know better than to offer recycled garbage in the congressional inquiry."
He said it would be better for the opposition to fill up the boxes with food, clothing, and other relief goods and send them to the victims of the Mayon eruption and other calamities.
Malacañang has been saying that the impeachment complaint was rehashed and that it will go the way of the first complaint -- that is, it will be junked. (DBP/JMR/Sunnex)
(August 16, 2006 issue)
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