25 July 2005

GOLEZ DEPLORES ATTEMPT TO BRIBE CONGRESSMEN TO GET THEIR VOTES ON IMPEACHMENT


On the alleged bribery of House Members to buy their votes in the Impeachment Complaint:

We are now validating information that key leaders of the House, aided by operators from outside, are bribing members of the House to dissuade them from expressing their conscience vote in the impeachment complaint.

If true, those operators should realize the full consequences of their action.

Rigging the impeachment process is a replay of the apparent rigging of the 2004 presidential election as vividly detailed by the Garci tapes using money, intimidation, and other foul and dastardly means.

An example is the case already reported by AVE Cong. Eulogio Magsaysay who promised to name names and furnish the full details of his accusation. This matter should be immediately referred to the Ethics Committee and those responsible ousted from Congress if found guilty without prejudice to criminal charges.

National security implications:

Rigging the impeachment process has grave national security repercussions.

The impeachment process is the last hope of the moderate majority of the public who would like the Gloriagate issue resolved in accordance with our constitutional process.

If this process is tampered with and frustrated, I am afraid that forces not within the control of the parliamentary opposition might be pushed towards extra-constitutional options. This moral issue, the apparent cover-up and attempts to rig the impeachment process could result in political extremism and severe instability.

Those guilty of rigging the impeachment process should be held fully responsible for the highly likely political firestorm.

On the rumblings in the AFP:

Warnings on rumblings in the AFP should not be belittled. The President is facing a grave moral issue and I know that idealistic officers and enlisted personnel of the AFP are very sensitive to moral issues especially when the accused is the commander in chief.

We cannot rely on the assurances of the top echelons of the AFP and the DND. In the 2003 Magdalo mutiny, many of the top DND officials and AFP generals were clueless about the impending uprising or were in a denial mode.

On the State of Graft and Public Order of the Nation:

In her SONA, the President cannot boast of her anti-graft, lifestyle check and public order campaign.

First, she has not acted on the documented 50 foreign trips made by the spouse of one of her key cabinet members. That’s a signal for the spouses of generals and cabinet members to go on a travel spree and ignore the lifestyle checks which appear to be good only for junior bureaucrats.

Second, she cannot claim that peace & order improved. The first six months of the year are the most murderous six months in recent history with more than 50 high profile killings reported. Among those killed were two former congressmen, several mayors, vice mayors & councilors, and journalists. There was resurgence of jueteng. Witnesses in the Senate hearings alleged that jueteng money reached the bedrooms of Malacañang.

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