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Monday, October 08, 2007
Numbers favor Arroyo as she faces third impeach complaint
CEBU CITY -- At least four of the eight Cebuanos in the House of Representatives are confident the latest impeachment complaint against President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will not prosper, for lack of legal basis.
Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Sergio Antonio Apostol shares their confidence.
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“The ZTE deal is cancelled already. There is no bribery because there is no contract yet. That impeachment complaint will not prosper again. It is a matter of numbers, and majority of House members are very supportive of the President,” Apostol said.
Before returning to Manila late Saturday night, President Arroyo brushed aside the new complaint, branding it as “petty grandstanding,” “a waste of time” and “counter-productive.”
For Rep. Antonio Cuenco (Cebu City, south), the complaint filed by lawyer Roberto Rafael Pulido is weak.
“I don’t think anyone will vote for that because on its face, it’s very weak. It’s a harassment suit and I don’t think the opposition who will support it will be able to produce the number of signatures needed for the complaint to reach the Senate,” he told Sun.Star Cebu.
The administration-dominated House of Representatives now has in its order of business the impeachment complaint, which will need at least 80 signatures so the Senate can act on it.
That the President told former socioeconomic planning secretary Romulo Neri not to accept the alleged bribe offer and to just let the Supreme Court handle the case is already action in itself, Cuenco said further.
Besides, he continued, it is beyond the power of the President to kick out former Commission on Elections (Comelec) chairamn Benjamin Abalos, if that is the action Pulido wants the President to take.
Abalos was accused of bribing Neri to approve the aborted US$330 million-broadband deal contract, which was awarded to a Chinese company.
Rep. Pablo Garcia (Cebu Province, 2nd district) is also confident the House committee on justice will dismiss the complaint.
‘No basis’
“It has no basis, it can be dismissed right away. It is based only on statements of Joey de Venecia, Neri and Abalos regarding a transaction that the President has already cancelled. It is based on allegations that Abalos denied under oath,” he said.
Garcia also said the Senate should not have conducted an investigation on the broadband deal to begin with since a case was already pending with the Supreme Court, and a temporary restraining order was already issued.
An impeachment complaint has to be proven to be sufficient in form and substance before the committee on justice deliberates on it.
“They complied with the first requirement because the complaint was verified and endorsed by a congressman (Rep. Edgar San Luis) but as to substance, that is difficult to hurdle. There’s no substance there because it’s all he said, I said,” Garcia added.
As for the suspicions that the complaint is just a ploy of Malacañang to protect the President from another complaint that is based on a graver offense, Garcia said: “I will not speculate on that because the one who filed it is Pulido and he has no connections with Malacañang. In fact, he is the lawyer of the Oakwood mutineers.”
Two other Cebuano representatives do not believe the impeachment complaint filed against President Arroyo is a ploy to shield her from other possible ouster moves.
Suspicion
“I don’t see that right now. I still have to see the complaint. But based on the personalities involved, I don’t think that’s possible. (Lawyer Roberto Rafael) Pulido is not exactly a fan of President Arroyo. There’s a suspicion but I don’t see that at this point,” Rep. Pablo John Garcia (Cebu, 3rd district) said.
Garcia and Rep. Benhur Salimbangon (Cebu, 4th) also agree that the House of Representatives will not be able to take up the complaint before it breaks for a recess on Oct. 11. It will resume its session on Nov. 5 yet.
Salimbangon also believes that no impeachment complaint will prosper in the Lower House.
“With the majority coalition in Congress, I don’t think it will entertain any impeachment complaints because that will affect the economy,” he said.
Presidential spokesman Ignacio Bunye said that instead of “dabbling in a lost cause,” the President’s detractors should “cut the petty grandstanding and join us instead in the people’s business of moving the Philippines forward.” (LCR & CYR of Sun.Star Cebu/Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Pampanga. (October 8, 2007 issue)
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