MANILA -- Militant group Akbayan is readying a new impeachment complaint to be filed against Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez when the 15th Congress opens, said its representative, Walden Bello.
The complaint will cover the P728 million fertilizer fund scam and the botched National Broadband Network-ZTE deal where Gutierrez exonerated former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and his husband, Mike, despite supposed evidence linking them in the irregularities, said Bello.
Gutierrez was an appointee of the former President and a classmate of Mr. Arroyo at the Ateneo de Manila University.
Former Akbayan representative Riza Hontiveros-Baraquel said in a television interview Monday that the complaint would be very similar to the impeachment case earlier filed by former Senate President Jovito Salonga against the Ombudsman. The Akbayan was the one who endorsed Salonga's complaint.
Hontiveros-Baraquel said they will rewrite the earlier complaint and will file the new one when the 15th Congress opens. It will be all about Gutierrez's betrayal of trust, she added.
She said they will still find out the number of votes for the complaint, adding that they are more hopeful they will have the numbers to secure sufficiency in form and substance, and support from the plenary.
Akbayan hopes the new impeachment complaint will progress under the new administration of President Benigno Aquino III. (Sunnex)