The House panel will hold its sixth hearing at 1 p.m. today with its members hoping to decide the two prejudicial questions that will determine whether all three or only one complaint would be taken up.
A majority vote is needed to make the committee’s decision. But with an estimated 70 percent of the 93-member body still supportive of the Arroyo government, chances for the committee to take up the third and amended impeachment complaint appeared to be dim.
Both pro- and anti-impeachment groups in the chamber have expressed the belief that the justice committee will throw out the second complaint filed by lawyer Jose Lopez and the third one which has been endorsed by at least 48 solons.
Basis for this prediction is last week’s voting on whether or not the committee should first resolve the prejudicial questions before it tries to determine the sufficiency in form and substance of the complaints filed.
Voting 54-24, the House panel took the anti-impeachment stance of resolving first seven prejudicial questions which was later reduced to two.
Batangas Rep. Oscar Gozos, justice committee vice chairman, said the committee will wind up today debates on the first prejudicial question and once this is through, will vote on the issue.
The first prejudicial question to be resolved is whether the committee should treat the amended complaint as a new complaint and separate from the original case filed by lawyer Oliver Lozano.
Next to be debated and voted upon is whether the second impeachment case filed by Lopez and the amended complaint are barred by the one-year rule which provides that "no impeachment proceedings shall be initiated against the same official more than once within a period of one year."
Speaker Jose de Venecia believes that the two issues, together with the determination of sufficiency in form and in substance, of the complaint can be resolved by next Tuesday.
Rep. Rodolfo Bacani (LP, Manila) accused proArroyo lawmakers of plotting to kill the impeachment complaint on "technical grounds."
Bacani, the 48th congressman to endorse the impeachment complaint, claimed that under the plot, Arroyo allies in the House will see to it that the impeachment complaint is thrown out before she leaves to attend a United Nations conference in September.
"I am coming out to inform the public that tomorrow, August 30, the majority will kill the impeachment complaint on a technicality. I know this because I am a member of the majority," Bacani said in a press statement.
However, Gozos rejected Bacani’s charge, explaining that there is no way the impeachment complaint can be junked via illegal grounds.
"If Bacani is referring to legal technicalities, there is nothing wrong with them. Legal technicalities are based on law and accepted legal principles set forth by the Supreme Court," the Batanas lawmaker said.
Meanwhile, Reps. Monico Puentevella (Lakas, Bacolod City) and Mauricio Domogan (Lakas, Baguio City) said the failure of the pro-impeachment bloc to muster the support of 79 of their colleagues should be blamed for the "death of the impeachment bid."
"Administration solons cannot kill the impeachment complaint. It is the pro-impeachment bloc which will kill their own complaint if they do not have the support of 79 solons," Puentevella said.
San Juan Rep. Ronaldo Zamora, head of the impeachment legal team, said the pro-impeachment bloc has been racing against time in getting 79 congressmen to support their cause.
Palace insists Arroyo won 2004 elections fair and square
By E.T. SUAREZ
Malacañang insisted yesterday that President Arroyo won fair and square in the last elections as the House Committee on Justice chaired by Rep. Simeon Datumanong prepares to vote today on whether to consider all three impeachment complaints or just the first one filed by lawyer Oliver Lozano.
The Palace stressed that President Arroyo won on the basis of an effective campaign platform and strategy while her opponents lost because they could not get their act together.
Meanwhile, Majority Leader Prospero Nograles stood by his report that 180 congressmen support the President against impeachment making it impossible for the opposition to attain the magic number of 79 signatures on the impeachment complaint,
The Constitution requires a vote of one-third or 79 of the total number of House members to elevate the articles of impeachment to the Senate. Speaker Jose de Venecia had promised that once the number of impeachment endorsers reach 79, the complaint would go to the Senate for trial.
As of yesterday, 48 congressmen have signed the amended impeachment complaint against President Arroyo, still 31 signatures short of the number needed,
In defense of President Arroyo, Bunye branded as a recycled issue the charge that President Arroyo used public funds in her campaign stressing that not a single centavo from government coffers went to the President’s campaign chest.
"We have heard this before but the fact that nothing has been proven till now clearly indicates that this issue was merely lifted from the wastebasket," Bunye said.
Lawmaker reveals plot to junk impeach case on technicality
By ANNA LIZA T. VILLAS
A member of the majority bloc in the House of the Representatives confirmed yesterday that the impeachment complaint against President Arroyo would be "killed" today.
Rep. Rodolfo Bacani (Manila, 4th district) said in a press conference that the pro-administration majority coalition had planned to throw out the impeachment complaint before the President leaves for the United States early next month.
"On August 30, the majority will kill the impeachment complaint on a technicality," said Bacani in a press conference held in Mandaluyong yesterday.
Bacani signed his endorsement for the impeachment complaint last week. He clarified that he was not given any offer to sign the endorsement. However he admitted that he has been receiving calls to withdraw his endorsement, many of them from his colleagues.
The congressman believes that the impeachment proceedings can be "a venue for the President to defend herself."
He said he supports the appeal of the President to be "given the opportunity to answer the charges mounted against her through the legal process of an impeachment trial."
"We should give her a chance to confront the allegations against her, to prove her innocence in a fair and genuine trial, which is what she wants, before she faces the United Nations," Bacani said.
He said that among the congressmen from Manila, he was the only one so far to sign the impeachment complaint, adding that 15 other Liberal Party congressmen, both from the majority and minority bloc, may sign the impeachment complaint.
Opposition to blame if impeachment case fails — Nograles
By EDMER F. PANESA
Opposition lawmakers have no one to blame but themselves if the impeachment complaint against President Arroyo "dies the natural way" due to lack of signatures, House Majority Leader Prospero Nograles said yesterday.
"It’s really the opposition who will kill their own impeachment if they do not have 79 (signatures). It is muerto natural," Nograles said. "Administration solons need not do anything positive to kill the impeachment. Their (opposition) dying ambition to bring down President Arroyo at all cost is on issue here."
The Davao City legislator issued the statement amid talks that the majority in the House Committee on Justice is out to either dismiss or deal a fatal blow to the amended impeachment complaint of the opposition using the so-called "prejudicial questions" earlier raised by Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman.
Nograles charged that the opposition actually is "more concerned with the public opinion and propaganda (against the government) rather than the impeachment" as he denied administration moves to kill the impeachment case against the President.
So far, 48 congressmen have endorsed the amended impeachment complaint which accuses Arroyo of betrayal of public trust, culpable violation of the Constitution, and bribery and graft and corruption.
The Constitution requires a vote of one-third or 79 of the total number of House members to elevate the articles of impeachment to the Senate.
Last Saturday, Ilocos Norte Rep. Imee Marcos warned that more than enough congressmen will vote for the express transmittal of the amended complaint to the Senate should the House Committee on Justice votes to throw it out today.
Marcos, a member of the opposition, said that many of her colleagues in the House would be so dismayed if the justice panel junks the minority’s amendments to the original complaint of lawyer Oliver Lozano that they would vote for its express transmittal to the Senate for trial.
"If the Committee on Justice throws out the amended complaint of the minority, we might reach then the needed 79 votes to transmit it to the Senate. Many of the lawmakers still believe in the (impeachment process) including the allies of the President," Marcos said.
Meanwhile, Rep. Abraham Mitra (LP, Palawan) urged the House to speed up and finish the hearing on the impeachment complaint before the President leaves on Sept. 10 for a week-long trip to Saudi Arabia and the United States.
"If she leaves the country with the impeachment business still unresolved, her hosts might get the impression that they’re talking to a head of state whose continued stay in office is uncertain," Mitra said.
Anti-Arroyo rally scheduled in Makati at 2 p.m. today
By HANNAH L. TORREGOZA
To show that they are intent on guarding the impeachment complaint, people calling for President Arroyo’s ouster will once again converge at the Ninoy Aquino Monument on Ayala Avenue, Makati City starting at 2 p.m. today.
The Makati Traffic Enforcement Unit (MTEU) said the groups hailed from different multi-sectoral parties will light candles at the Central Business District (CBD) to hold a prayer rally as Congress is set to decide which of the impeachment complaints will be approved and elevated to the Senate.
Because of this, the Makati Traffic Enforcement Unit (MTEU) has rerouted traffic at the CBD in preparation for the rally.
Due to the candle light vigil, the MTEU will close both lanes of Ayala Avenue and Makati Avenue.
MTEU has closed the lanes starting from Makati Avenue up to Herrera Street and Paseo de Roxas from De La Rosa Street to Sedeño Street.
Traffic enforcers said all passenger buses from EDSA should turn right to Makati Avenue then left to Sen. Gil Puyat Avenue.
On the other hand, all passenger buses that are northbound (from South Luzon Expressway) straight to EDSA must turn right to Makati Avenue then left to Ayala Avenue.
Meanwhile, the Makati police have beefed up security on the Central Business District (CBD) in preparation for the rally.
Intelligence officials said more than 5,000 people are expected to participate in the event.
In a related development, Anakbayan yesterday warned administration lawmakers against blatant moves of killing the impeachment proceedings.
Hundreds of youth and students trooped to Congress to keep watch over the House Committee on Justice hearing despite suspension of classes.
"Our message is clear: To our lawmakers, the youth are watching you. We have witnessed all your petty squabbles and politicking with regards to the impeachment complaint and, honestly, we are close to reaching the boiling point," warned Eleanor de Guzman, Anakbayan secretary general.
She added that the youth expresses strong disgust over Malacañang and administration congressmen’s obvious attempts to kill the impeachment proceedings despite offers of a so-called truce with Mrs. Arroyo’s critics and opponents.
