Proponents may challenge House panel ruling on intervention before SC

(Updated 12:45 p.m.) MANILA, Philippines - Proponents of the motion for intervention in the impeachment complaint against President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on Wednesday said they may challenge before the Supreme Court the House Justice Committee's decision to junk the motion. Manuel Quezon III, one of the proponents of the motion, expressed disappointment over the House panel's ruling saying lawmakers - acting as fiscals - should include all issues that will strengthen a case. Quezon said that since lawmakers frequently cited the Constitution as the basis for their decision, his camp will study whether it can take the case to the Supreme Court. "It is the obligation of the House of Representatives to fortify and strengthen the case to involve every issue... Pag-aaralan namin ngayon kung pwedeng idulog sa Korte Suprema for grave abuse of discretion," Quezon said. 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. In a separate radio interview, Quezon chided the lawmakers, saying they seem to be relying on technicalities to disqualify the latest impeachment complaint against President Arroyo. “Kung magtatago lang ang mga majority sa teknikalidad, ay sila na ang bahala doon (That would be up to lawmakers if they will choose to hide under technicalities)," Quezon said. Quezon said despite the House panel's decision to junk the motion, he said they are glad for having been able to ventilate the issue. “At least nailabas namain ang issue. Ito ay mahalaga sa bayan. Nakikita natin na iba ang sentimyento ng mayorya (At least we were able to bring the issue out. This is important for the public. We're seeing here now that the majority thinks otherwise)," Quezon said. In another interview on dzBB radio, Quezon thanked the four representatives who supported his motion for intervention and chided the 35 congressmen who dismissed it, as he lamented the majority’s attempt to derail the impeachment proceedings. “Well nagpapasalamat kami sa [minorya ng] Kamara de Representantes dahil pinagtanggol nila yung motion namin at nagpapasalamat din kami sa majority na kalinaw-linaw na ayaw nialng basahin yung complaint namin at binabalewala nila yung BJE [Bangsamoro Juridical Entity] issue (We thank the House of Representatives minority bloc for giving our motion a fighting chance. We also thank the majority, because obviously, they do not want to read our complaint and they are downplaying the BJE issue)," Quezon said. To recall, Quezon’s motion for intervention sought to include the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front’s agreement to create a Bangsamoro Juridical Entity. The Supreme Court ruled the agreement as unconstitutional. But even if his motion was junked, Quezon expressed hope that the House would declare the impeachment complaint lodged by businessman Jose de Venecia III and other society leaders sufficient in substance for it to proceed. For his part, Bayan Muna Rep. Teodoro Casiño said the High Court’s decision on the ancestral domain deal would’ve lent credence to Quezon’s motion for reconsideration. “Yung Supreme Court decision ay malakas sana iyon sa impeachment complaint (The Supreme Court decision would’ve bolstered the impeachment complaint)," Casiño was quoted as saying in QTV's Balitanghali. Proponents of the various impeachment complaints who showed up at the Batasan Pambansa Complex in Quezon City immediately expressed their objection of the ruling. For her part, former Social Welfare and Development Secretary Corazon “Dinky" Soliman said the members of the Justice committee “do not have the right" to be called representatives as they failed to espouse the sentiments of the public. - Johanna Camille Sisante and Mark Merueñas, GMANews.TV