Bishops say impeach bid must go on despite pain

First posted 01:19am (Mla time) Aug 15, 2005
By Nestor P. Burgos Jr., Christine O. Avendaño
Inquirer News Service

THE INCOMING president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) wants the impeachment proceedings against President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to continue, “no matter how painful they may be.”

“I hope that everybody -- congressmen, senators as well as our President -- will stand to the truth,” Iloilo Archbishop Angel Lagdameo told reporters in Iloilo City after rites commemorating the 25th anniversary of his episcopal ordination on Friday.

Lagdameo said the CBCP was standing by its earlier position that the political crisis could be resolved either through a truth commission or the impeachment or voluntary resignation of Ms Arroyo.

In a separate interview, Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal, who was among those who attended the commemoration, called on legislators to continue the impeachment proceedings.

“I hope the impeachment would go on because it’s the only way we will know the truth as far as the Constitution is concerned. We hope that our congressmen will not stop the impeachment process,” Vidal said.

Several impeachment complaints have been filed against the President, accusing her of culpable violation of the Constitution, corruption and fraud in connection with the presidential election last year.

On Wednesday, the House committee on justice suspended its first hearing on the impeachment complaints because of bickering over procedures. It is expected to resume its hearing tomorrow to start determining whether the complaints are sufficient in form.

But Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said last week that the President and her men were giving their all to prevent Ms Arroyo from being impeached.

Lawyer Romulo Macalintal, spokesperson of Ms Arroyo in the impeachment case, yesterday said that all the impeachment complaints should be dismissed because they were “defective.”

An amended impeachment complaint has been signed by 41 members of the House of Representatives, short of the 79 votes or one-third of the 236-member chamber, to send the case to the Senate for trial. The opposition claimed that it had gained 10 more votes but was not revealing the names just yet.

Aquino, Drilon in Iloilo

Former President Corazon Aquino, who was in Iloilo City Thursday, also called for the continuation of the impeachment proceedings.

“I hope that they will give an opportunity for all of us Filipinos to know the truth. And it would appear that it will be through the impeachment proceedings that we will be able to arrive at the truth,” she said.

Aquino, who last month asked Ms Arroyo to step down from office, said the proceedings should be open to the public and not only to the committee members.

She said she was standing by her earlier call for the President to resign. If Ms Arroyo’s resignation was not possible, then Aquino said she would opt for the impeachment process.

“We’re hoping there will be no impediment to the impeachment proceedings because the President herself had said that she preferred the impeachment proceedings to the resignation that we were asking for,” she said.

The former President said the impediments included the need to gather the support of at least 79 members of the House for the impeachment complaint to prosper.

She also pointed to the move to limit the number of participants in the deliberations of the committee on justice.

Asked if she would be willing to reconcile with Ms Arroyo, Aquino said it should be “reconciliation based on justice.”

Surprise visit

Aquino, along with Senate President Franklin Drilon, paid Lagdameo a surprise visit on Thursday at the prelate’s office. They were accompanied by Drilon’s wife Mila, resigned Agrarian Reform Secretary Rene Villa and Iloilo Governor Niel Tupas Sr.

Drilon, who also asked Ms Arroyo to step down, and Aquino said they greeted Lagdameo on the 25th anniversary of his ordination as a bishop.

Reporters were not allowed to cover the unannounced meeting. Aides accompanying Aquino and Drilon at first asked photographers and reporters not to take pictures and conduct interviews.

Lagdameo, who described the meeting as a “very friendly visit,” said he was surprised when he was informed that the former President would be coming.

He said his visitors did not ask him to support calls for the President to resign.

The bishop pointed out that the voluntary resignation of the President was among the options covered by the CBCP statement on resolving the political crisis.

Abad in Dumaguete

In Dumaguete City, resigned Education Secretary Florencio Abad yesterday warned against the danger posed by the administration-dominated House throwing out the impeachment complaint because of a technicality.

Abad, one of the 10 officials in the Arroyo Cabinet who resigned on July 8, said at a forum organized by the Negros Oriental Network of NGOs (Negornet) that the impeachment process should be given due course to bring out the truth.

“My concern is if (the impeachment complaint) is thrown out on a technicality, then you have closed a constitutional option. That is, to me, dangerous,” Abad said.

“The President has already closed the resignation option. What remains is either ‘people power’ or the other anti-constitutional alternatives peddled by some retired generals,” he said.

He said that as a member of the Liberal Party, which had called on Ms Arroyo to step down, he was encouraging party members in the House to sign the amended impeachment complaint. He said there were still 15 undecided LP members in the House.

10 impeachment complaints

In a phone interview, Macalintal said there were actually 10 impeachment complaints filed and not three as reported in media.

He said lawyer Oliver Lozano first filed a complaint but amended it seven times, and Lozano later joined another amended complaint this time endorsed by 29 members of the House. Then there’s the complaint filed by lawyer Jose Lopez, according to Macalintal.

He said none of these would be able to pass the first test in the impeachment process -- whether a complaint was sufficient in form.

He noted that none of these complaints were properly verified in compliance with the impeachment rules.

“At the time of filing (of the complaint), it must be sworn and subscribed to before the secretary general of the House, but all the complaints were sworn and subscribed to before a notary public,” Macalintal said.

“So all of these appear to be defective and should be dismissed because they did not comply with the rules on impeachment,” he said.