MOA-AD won't form part of Arroyo impeach rap

(Updated 12:03 a.m.) MANILA, Philippines - The House Justice Committee on Wednesday junked the motion for intervention which seeks to include the memorandum of agreement on ancestral domain (MOA-AD) in the impeachment complaint against President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Voting 35-4, the House Justice panel junked the motion filed by Manuel Quezon III and other civil society leaders which aims to include the aborted MOA-AD as among the grounds for the President’s impeachment. The four lawmakers who voted for the inclusion of the MOA-AD in the impeachment complaint are Bayan Muna Reps. Teodoro Casiño, Satur Ocampo, Gabriela Rep. Liza Maza, and Makati Rep. Mar-Len Abigail Binay. In his preliminary statement at the start of the hearing, House Justice panel chairman and Quezon City Rep. Matias Defensor Jr said the motion should be returned to its proponents because it is "without basis." "An independent controversy cannot be injected... and such intervention cannot be allowed when it expands the issue," Defensor said. "The complaint for intervention is immature, and clearly a collateral accessory to the original impeachment complaint. Therefore the chair rules that the same be returned to the original proponent," he added. Defensor explained that the MOA-AD is rendered moot because the government had not signed it before the Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional. Bayan Muna Rep. Teodoro Casiño had opposed Defensor's stand on the issue, saying the Justice panel should include the motion for intervention in the complaint to allow ordinary citizens to get involved in the impeachment proceedings. “Sana po, the committee should consider na pagbigyan ng pagkakataon sa ordinaryong mamamayang na makisangkot sa mahalagang kasong ito (I hope the committee will consider and allow ordinary citizens to take part in this important matter)," Casiño said. “We should allow these kinds of amendments, or changes, or interventions in the complaint and let us decide if we can consolidate and we can add it as grounds for impeachment, he added. The lawmakers went into a break after the vote and has yet to resume as of posting time and has yet to tackle the issue of whether the complaint t is sufficient in substance.- GMANews.TV