House panel cancels Cayetano hearing

A scheduled panel hearing at the House of Representatives on the petition to expel Taguig-Pateros Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano has been postponed, DZMM reported.

Bohol Rep. Robert Cajes, committee chairman, said members moved for the postponement of the proceedings because they have yet to study the petition. He said that committee members received copies of the petition only recently.

The next hearing was set for October 3.

The minority, however, suspects that President Arroyo's allies could be delaying the proceedings to prevent the dismissal of the petition filed by her husband, Jose Miguel, against Cayetano.

Parañaque Rep. Roilo Golez said the majority could be "cooking up" something. "It took sometime before they replied to my question if the complaint can still be amended."

Golez voiced his concern after opposition congressmen succeeded in a petition filed before the committee. The committee had ruled that a complaint filed against a congressman cannot be entertained if a similar case has been lodged before the court.

The opposition said Mr. Arroyo's expulsion petition against Cayetano is similar to the libel case filed before the Quezon City Prosecutor's Office.

The committee would have to wait for the court to decide on the case before deliberating on the complaint.

"It's possible that they (majority congressmen) have a hidden agenda because they committed a fatal mistake. [The committee] cannot hear the case pending the prosecutors' resolution [on the libel case]," Golez said.

Mr. Arroyo had asked the ethics committee to expel Cayetano from the House for making false accusations against him.

Last month, Cayetano revealed that the Arroyo family has a multi-million bank account in HypoVereinsbank in Munich, Germany.

The President's husband, however, obtained a bank certification that said he and his family members do not have an account with HypoVereins.