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Thursday, August 24, 2006
Administration lawmakers vow to bury impeach case
MANILA -- Allies of Malacañang in the House of Representatives said Wednesday they would use their dominance in numbers to have the second impeachment complaint against President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo laid to rest.
The House justice committee last week dismissed the impeachment complaint against President Arroyo on the ground that it was insufficient in substance.
House Majority Leader Prospero Nograles said the result of the nominal voting in the House plenary was "predictable" because aside from the numerical superiority of the administration legislators, many of their colleagues in the opposition told him that they would support the committee report junking the impeachment case against the President.
He doubted if the pro-impeachment lawmakers would get the required 78 votes for them to overturn the report and transmit the complaint to the Senate for trial.
Nograles believed that the opposition would even be having difficulty obtaining the 51 votes they did last year.
He hoped that the nominal voting would be finished Thursday dawn as only 30 lawmakers, including those from the opposition, wanted to explain their positions on the report of the committee.
Under the procedure, each lawmaker would be given three minutes to explain his or her vote in rejecting and accepting the report.
House Minority Leader Francis Escudero earlier said that they would no longer explain their votes and the administration lawmakers should have a lot of explaining to do concerning their votes. He said they would let the Filipino people act on the outcome of the complaint.
Cavite Representative Gilbert Remulla said although they knew that nothing would happen to the impeachment case against President Arroyo, they wanted to show to the people that they do not tolerate cheating and stealing.
This year's impeachment complaint contained allegations of electoral fraud, graft and corruption and human rights abuses, the same charges leveled against the President last year that were also dismissed by the House for technicality.
Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said the "death" of the impeachment complaint should also finally close the chapter on extreme partisanship and national division.
Bunye, who is also the Presidential spokesman, said it is time to move forward to a period of unity and consolidation.
"As the impeachment curtain comes down, we hope that the opposition would now allow the country to close the final chapter of extreme partisanship and national division. Once again, we ask our detractors to join us in the march for the unity, security and prosperity of the people," he said.
Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said the opposition from the start knows that the impeachment is a number's game. "They (members of the opposition) know the procedures just as the majority in the House does and after all the debates, in the end it would have to come to a vote," he said.
During the session, House justice committee chairman Simeon Datumanong of Maguindanao submitted their report to the plenary. It was followed by a sponsorship speech delivered by Bataan Representative Antonio Roman, a member of the committee who was irritated by Escudero's interpellation.
Roman said that he was willing to be questioned by the opposition during the time when he is explaining his vote.
Nograles appealed to the opposition to defer any interpellation so as not to delay the process, which was opposed by Parañaque City Representative Roilo Golez saying it was a violation of the rules.
House Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. suspended the session for a minute to discuss the matter, until both parties agreed that any lawmaker would be allowed to interpellate provided that the speaker let it.
It was at this juncture when Taguig-Pateros Representative Alan Peter Cayetano asked de Venecia and other lawmakers to contribute money for a dinner of the people in the gallery that was for the first time dominated by President Arroyo's supporters, thinking that the session would last long.
A few pro-impeachment advocates, including former social welfare secretary Corazon "Dinky" Soliman, were forced to occupy the seats assigned for journalists who would cover the event.
As of 8:30 p.m., the nominal voting on the report of the House justice panel had not yet been started. (JFF/JMR/Sunnex)
(August 24, 2006 issue)
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