GMA, allies forge kill impeach rap accord

Friday, 08 19, 2005

The pro-impeachment congressmen can huff and puff all they want, but their amended complaint will be rejected by the Justice committee headed by Rep. Simeon Datumanong, since a “pact” has already been forged between President Arroyo and her allies in Congress, a Palace insider told the Tribune yesterday.

“It will be the Lozano complaint that will be approved, after which it will also be dismissed on the issues of form and substance,” the Palace official, who asked not to be named, said, adding that the deal to kill the impeachment complaint forged between Mrs. Arroyo and the congressmen, headed by Speaker Jose de Venecia, was in exchange for a change in the Constitution which would see the incumbent congressmen sitting as the “transition amended impeachment complaint.

Mrs. Arroyo's spokesman for the impeachment Romulo

parliamentarians” with a pledge from the President that those who remain loyal to her would be tapped as her ministers in a Cabinet government. Also promised were faster releases for the pork barrel allocations and other additional “perks.” It was not made clear, however, how Mrs. Arroyo would be able to convince the Senate to agree to a constituent assembly, but the insider hinted that it may well be the Supreme Court that will make this possible. The Palace source did not elaborate.

Already, Malacañang justified the move of the presidential allies in the House to kill the amended impeachment complaint.

Mrs. Arroyo's spokesman for the impeachment lawyer Romulo Macalintal however, clarified that they are not killing the amended impeachment of the opposition but merely following the “rule of law” as stated in the Constitution.

“Why would we kill their amended impeachment when this is what the law requires? We're not being technical here. We're just following what the Constitution is saying stressing there's no “double standard” of justice, referring to the presidency of Joseph Estrada in 2000 when Congress included the pieces of evidence presented against the former in the Senate for trial even when these were not included in the charge sheet.

“The time of Erap (Estrada's nickname) is different. Is it our fault when it should be his defense lawyers who should be at fault? You know of course our President has a right to defend herself. We have to clarify that we're not killing their amended impeachment complain. We're merely following what the law says and we hope they do the same and respect the Constitution,” he said.

Even as the minority House members appear to be resigned to the kill impeachment move by Mrs. Arroyo and her allies, they vowed to exert every effort to prevent them from pursuing a strong impeachment case against her.

Minority leader Francis Escudero (Sorsogon) and deputy minority leader Allan Peter Cayetano (Taguig-Pateros) said no amount of desperation can equal that of the Arroyo administration in killing the impeachment case of the opposition.

The desperation, according to the lawmakers, was very evident when police and military raided on Tuesday a house of Segundo Tabayoyong in San Mateo, Rizal where 41 boxes of election returns, which the opposition will be using as evidence against the President, were found and confiscated.

“The Tabayoyong raid shows that the President will stop at nothing and is in fact pulling all the stops to prevent a fair and credible impeachment process,” Escudero said.

“Was it not an act of desperation?” Cayetano added. “Stop the cover up, and stop using agencies to cover up the cheating, stealing and lying.”

The minority congressmen said that should the house committee on justice prevent the opposition from pursuing the amended impeachment complaint, which they believe is a very strong case that would pin the President down, the opposition will still be presenting evidence before the media.

“They (administration) are saying that we present our evidence at the correct venue or forum and that is the house committee on justice or the impeachment court,” Cayetano said.

“But the administration is doing everything to stop us from presenting evidence in that venue, secondly the public has right to know. Evidence is not a secret. It is for public consumption. If they allow the amended complaint and allow the presentation of evidence we are willing to present it there.”

A group of retired military generals and those in the active service also yesterday warned the President's staunch supporters in the House of Representatives not to “kill” the amended impeachment complaint or else she would suffer another consequence of “people power revolt” to oust the President and her allies from power.

In an interview, Yes Arms spokesman Commodore Ismael Apparri said a revolution is inevitable if all legal solutions are not only exhausted but are being been “sabotaged” by Mrs. Arroyo.

“If the House junks the amended impeachment complaints of the opposition by mere technicalities we would have no other option left but to go outside the halls of Congress,” he told the Tribune.

“If they subvert the truth, a revolution is inevitable. The military would be the only solution to this political crisis. Yes Arms would always be supportive of any action that would hasten changes in our government,” he added.

Aparri warned the Speaker, including committee on justice Maguindanao Rep. Simeon Datumanong and other Arroyo allies they could be stripped of their positions in the government as he said the military cannot assure them of their “safety” under the new revolutionary government that would be installed once Mrs. Arroyo is ousted.

“It would really depend on who will be in the next administration, the next government will have to craft a revolutionary Constitution, so there would be changes,” he said referring to the congressional powers of current lawmakers.

Aparri said the military is “closely” watching the proceedings in the House as this is the only legal venue left where Mrs. Arroyo could clear herself of all charges.

“The military is closely watching them (House). That's why we're giving Congress, our Supreme Court, including the entire bureaucracy a chance to rehabilitate themselves. “For us to prevent a violent upheaval, they in the government must observe the rule of law. They should not disobey the Constitution because if they do the contrary they should be prepared to answer for any violent actions that would happen,” he said.

Meanwhile, a former Department of Justice (DoJ), Artemio Tuquero, in a statement yesterday held the view that the House justice committee can consolidate all impeachment complaints against Mrs. Arroyo.

Tuquero , the present dean of the Manuel Luis Quezon University Law School and a ranking official of the Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) yesterday said “…There is a whale of a difference between the terms 'filing' and 'initiation' of impeachment cases,”

His view comes at the heels of published opinions by Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez that the lower House can only act on the first impeachment complaint filed against the President, a move which potentially protects the chief executive from exposure to a more potent charge sheet from the opposition.

Tuquero said since only the “initiation” of more than one impeachment complaint within year for the same official is prohibited, the Constitution does not preclude the filing of an impeachment complaint against the same official within a year.

“Clearly , several complaints for impeachment may be filed with the House of Representatives against the same official within a period of one year without violating the Constitution,” he said. “And should this happen, it is within the power of the House, if it so decides, to consolidate or incorporate all or some of the complaints or the grounds therefore in one Articles of Impeachment to be referred to the Senate,” he added.

Meanwhile, a bishop from Mindanao appealed to Congress to leave all personal interests and let the impeachment process against the President prosper.

Marbel Bishop Dinualdo Gutierrez, head of the National Secretariat for Social Action Justice and Peace of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP-NASSA) said the President herself said that she is willing to face the impeachment, therefore, Congress should do its best in immediately resolving the issue on what complaint is to be approved. “Let the impeachment (process) continue. She said she is willing, so let it continue,” he stressed. With Sherwin C. Olaes, Dona Policar, Marie A. Surbano and Benjamin B. Pulta