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Thursday, August 17, 2006
House justice body kills Arroyo impeach case
MANILA -- By a vote of 56 to 24, the House committee on justice on Wednesday declared the impeachment case against President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo insufficient in substance, thereby dismissing the complaint.
Pro-impeachment groups called for civil disobedience after the committee, whose members are mostly allied with Arroyo, junked the complaint despite several pleas and requests to allow the impeachment process to proceed.
Prior to the nominal voting, a commotion took place at the gallery when pro-impeachment supporters observing the hearing waved white letter envelopes, apparently insinuating that anti-impeachment lawmakers had been paid in exchange for junking the impeachment against the President.
Irked by what the people did in the gallery, committee chairman Simeon Datumanong decided to transfer the hearing to a smaller room.
Datumanong has already warned the people to observe proper decorum so as not to interrupt the proceedings.
However, agitated by the speech of administration congressman Edcel Lagman that the complainant was not sufficient in substance and that it was already dead even before it reached the committee, many people in the gallery waved white envelopes and this eventually led to yelling.
Datumanong hastily ruled that the voting be held in a smaller room, and then immediately left the plenary without giving the opposition time to ask for a reconsideration.
The committee chairman and other administration legislators also considered postponing the voting to Tuesday next week. But after a meeting with members of the House minority bloc, they agreed to hold the voting in the plenary.
House Minority Leader Francis Escudero, speaking on behalf of the complainants and lawmakers who supported the impeachment complaint, said they would no longer explain their votes.
"We were disappointed by our colleagues in Congress. On behalf of the House minority bloc and the complainants, I would like to manifest that none of us will no longer explain our vote regarding our position," Escudero said in his manifestation before the committee.
He said the minority lawmakers already presented their case and the administration legislators have a lot of explaining to do concerning their vote.
Observers in the gallery shouted when administration legislators threw out the impeachment complaint against the President. They chanted "buksan ang kahon (open the boxes)," referring to the seven Balikabayan boxes of evidence.
Former social welfare secretary Corazon "Dinky" Soliman, one of the complainants in the impeachment, expressed disappointment over the decision made by the committee.
Former transportation secretary Josephine Lichauco, also one of the impeachment complainants, said she accepted the result of the complaint against President Arroyo. "We knew from the very start that it would be difficult for us to impeach Mrs. Arroyo (at the Lower House)," she said.
Datumanong said the body might come up with its report not later than Monday next week. He also expected that a plenary action -- to affirm or overturn the committee's decision -- will be made by Tuesday.
House Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr., for his part, urged the opposition to be civil and respect the decision of the House on the complaint.
"My appeal is let us be civil with each other and not go for so much heroics and assault on personalities. If they (opposition) lose here (committee), there is another round (plenary) for final judgment. We're only observing the constitutional process," said de Venecia.
Earlier during the hearing, members of the committee debated on the sufficiency in substance of the complaint. The panel heard five lawmakers from each group defend their respective positions.
Pro-impeachment lawmakers appealed to their colleagues in the House majority bloc to allow them to present evidence while the body is determining the sufficiency in substance of the complaint against the President.
But administration lawmakers insisted that pro-impeachment legislators must follow the rule wherein presentation of evidence is never mentioned as a prerequisite in establishing the sufficiency in substance.
Impeachment Rule 3, Section 4 states that the requirement of the substance is met if there is a recital of facts constituting the offense charged and determinative of the jurisdiction of the committee, and there is a reasonable ground to believe that the wrongdoing charged has been committed based on the complaint and the evidence of the complaint.
Escudero and Deputy Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano insisted that allowing them to open the seven Balikabyan boxes of evidence would be able to put an end to the lingering doubts cast on Arroyo's presidency.
They said allies of the President should not be afraid of the presentation of evidence at the time when determination of sufficiency in substance is taking place. "If you believe that President Arroyo has done nothing wrong, let us allow her to answer the allegations against her," they told the administration lawmakers.
But Camarines Sur Representative Luis Villafuerte said if the pro-impeachment group wants to present evidence, they have to surmount first the test of the sufficiency in substance.
Villafuerte said sufficiency in substance could only be determined by considering the facts mentioned in the complaint. "It is not permissible to go beyond what is in the complaint. And the requirement is only met when there is the recital of facts, ultimate facts, and not generalized just like what is in the complaint," he said.
The complaint, he said, does not define the specific offense. Besides, he added: "when you charge the President, you come up not only with ultimate facts but also with approximate time and date when the alleged crime was committed."
According to him, the complainants cited prior acts or irregularities allegedly committed before Arroyo's presidency. He was referring to the accusation of massive fraud during the past elections, which he claimed, was allegedly committed even before President Arroyo assumed office.
Lagman, who led the panel that opposed the impeachment of the President, said the committee has no intention of killing the complaint since it was already dead in the first place before it reached the committee. "What was brought before the committee was a cadaver of a complaint. What we heard from its endorsers were funeral orations," he said.
He also said the presentation of evidence has no legal pertinence while the committee is still deliberating on the sufficiency in substance of the complaint. He said there are other forums where complainants could present their evidence like regular courts, the Office of the Ombudsman, and the Sandiganbayan.
Prior to the dismissal of the case, Fr. Joe Dizon, who is a complainant in one of the impeachment complaints against President Arroyo, called for civil disobedience should the House of Representatives dismiss the complaint.
In a press conference, Dizon called for a peaceful and legal civil disobedience to reiterate the call to impeach the President. The priest is a member of the "Gloria Step Down Movement."
"I declare that there is moral basis for Filipinos to show non-cooperation without violating laws and resorting to violence," he said.
The priest wanted Filipinos not to ask for receipts in purchasing, turn off the television and radio if Arroyo is talking, and use the picture of President Arroyo as a dartboard.
Other impeachment complainants distributed soiled leaflets containing the pictures of staunch anti-impeachment lawmakers, including Villafuerte, Lagman, House Majority Leader Prospero Nograles, and Representatives Salacnib Baterina of Ilocos Sur and Marcelino Libanan of Eastern Samar. (DBP/Sunnex)
(August 17, 2006 issue)
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