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House pledgesfast actionon complaints
MANILA – Opposition congressmen formally filed impeachment charges against
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo shortly before she delivered her State of
the Nation Address during the opening of Congress July 25.
House Speaker Jose de Venecia immediately referred the impeachment complaints
against the President to the plenary and then to the committee on justice after
the opposition failed to get the required 79 votes that would have sent the
matter directly to the Senate for trial.
The charges are for “culpable violation of the constitution” and
“betrayal of public trust” based on audiotapes released last month,
which allegedly prove that Arroyo conspired with an election official to fix
the 2004 elections; allegations about hidden assets abroad; human rights violations
such as the killing of journalists and activists; and corruption linked to pay-offs
from gambling syndicates.
Speaker Jose de Venecia claps as Senate President Franklin Drilon, who called for thePresident Arroyo to resign, shows no reaction during the PresidentÂ?s state of the nation address July 25.
At least 42 lawmakers have endorsed a revised version of Lozano’s complaint
to the House secretary general while Palawan Representative Antonio Alvarez,
a pro-administration ally, endorsed the one filed by Lopez.
Despite a provision in the Constitution that allows the filing of only one complaint
in a year, De Venecia decided to send the two complaints to the committee on
justice pending the formulation of the rules of impeachment that would determine
which of the two would be tackled.
“I know none of us looks forward to this process because it is liable
to destabilize the economy and at a time investors need political stability
most of all," De Venecia said at the opening of the second regular session
of the 13th Congress. “But I also feel that we need to put this issue
behind us —and that the President’s best recourse is to confront
the accusations against her in the manner that Constitution prescribes,”
he said.
The plenary then referred the complaints to the justice committee led by Maguindanao
Representative Simeon Datumanong, also a member of the pro-administration bloc.
The committee has 60 session days to determine if the complaints are sufficient
in form and substance.
Because none of the complaints succeeded in getting the one-third vote of the
236 House members to bring it directly to the Senate, Datumanong said the complaints
would go through the normal process.
It will be deliberated in the justice committee before it will be transmitted
to the plenary and to the Senate, he said.
“The one-third votes or 79 signatures is a requirement at the filing of
the verified complaint," Datumanong explained to reporters.
“But if the complaints were already sent to the committee without the
one-third votes, we will continue with the proceedings," he said.
House Majority Floor Leader Prospero Nograles said the justice committee cannot
act on the complaints until the rules of impeachment were approved.
“This will not be acted upon until we agree to approve the 13th Congress
rules of impeachment," Nograles told reporters.
“We have been caught off guard because we don’t have rules of impeachment
in the 13th Congress," he said.
But Nograles said House Minority Floor Leader Francis Escudero and other members
of the legal team of the opposition agreed that they would not debate so much
on the rules so as to hasten the impeachment proceedings.
Lozano’s complaint alleges that Arroyo conspired with election officials
to fix the May 2004 presidential election and accuses her family of receiving
pay-offs from illegal gambling syndicates.
Congressman Ronaldo Zamora, Escudero, Tarlac Representative Benigno “Noynoy”
Aquino III, and Lozano were present at the filing of the revised complaint.
South Cotabato Representative Darlene Antonino-Custodio was confident that the
required 79 endorsers needed to automatically transmit the articles of impeachment
to the Senate would be reached.
The filing of the impeachment complaint follows three months of political turbulence
in the Philippines, which have seen large public protests against Arroyo and
the resignation of 12 senior cabinet ministers and officials.
Arroyo, a US-trained economist, has so far resisted calls for her to resign
and appears to have the support of key elements in the military and the Catholic
Church.
Even before the opposition filed their complaint, Arroyo’s camp rejected
the charges and insisted there was insufficient evidence to support them.
Deputy Speaker Raul del Mar lauded de Venecia’s quick action as a “clear
determined message to ensure transparency and adherence to the rule of law"
as the House tackles the issue of impeachment against the President.
“The House leadership is fair and square on this issue-and the Constitution
will be supreme," del Mar said.
The Rules Committee chaired by Majority Leader Prospero Nograles will refer
the complaints to the Committee on Justice with the consent of plenary.
Noting that the country is in the middle of a political crisis, de Venecia appealed
for sobriety and civility among his colleagues and among the people.
If they gain the support of one third of the lower house within 10 sitting days
of parliament, the case would be referred to the 24-member upper house, the
Senate, for a trial presided over by the Supreme Court chief justice in a non-voting
capacity.
Sixteen senators, a two-thirds majority, is needed for a conviction which would
see the president lose immunity from lawsuits and open to criminal prosecution
and punishment according to the law.
If the impeachment complaint fails to get the support of 79 lawmakers in the
lower house, it is sent to the House’s justice committee which has 60
working days to consider its merits.
During this entire period the sponsors of the complaint can keep trying to get
the support of 79 lawmakers and bring about a trial in the Senate.
The 1987 Philippine constitution allows the removal of a president for “culpable
violation of the constitution, treason, bribery, graft, and corruption, other
high crimes, or betrayal of public trust."
A conviction triggers a constitutional succession, with the vice president serving
out the remainder of the convicted leader’s six-year term.
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