House to start impeach proceedings vs Gutierrez this month

The House justice committee will start hearing the impeachment complaint filed against Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez this month, panel chairman, Iloilo Rep. Neil Tupas, said Thursday. “We will start the hearing within the month," Tupas said in a phone interview with GMANews.TV. Two impeachment complaints were separately filed by former Akbayan party-list Rep. Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel and several militant organizations. The two were simultaneously referred to the justice committee last Tuesday at 4:47 pm. In both complaints, Gutierrez was accused of betrayal of public trust and culpable violation of the 1987 Constitution for her alleged failure to live up to her role as the head of the country’s anti-graft investigating body. The complainants alleged that Gutierrez failed to act promptly on several graft cases involving former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, her husband Jose Miguel Arroyo, and officials of her administration. Gutierrez has been closely associated with the Arroyo, having been a batch-mate of Mr. Arroyo at the Ateneo Law School. The embattled Ombudsman has denied the accusations and said that as far as she is concerned, closeness with the President is not an impeachable offense. Consolidation Tupas said because of the simultaneous referral, the complaints will most likely be consolidated. “We will vote on that, considering that they were referred at the same time, consolidation is possible." The consolidation of the complaints will be the first agenda of the committee, he said. Tupas said the hearing will begin once the membership of the committee is completed. “The justice committee is still five to six members short," he said. Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Teddy Casiño, one o f the endorsers of the complaints, said the referral signals the start of the impeachment against Gutierrez. “The justice committee should now take up both complaints and immediately find them sufficient in form and substance to the evidence that will be presented and give the Ombudsman an opportunity to answer," he said in a text message to GMANews.TV. After the referral, the committee will then hear the complaint and determine its sufficiency in form and substance, and then submit its report and resolution, approved by majority of its members, within 60 session days. The report and resolution shall be calendared for consideration of the House as a whole within 10 session days. A vote of at least one-third of all the members of the House is needed to either affirm or junk the findings of the committee. Once affirmed, the complaint will be filed and will constitute the Articles of Impeachment and will be sent to the Senate, which has to sole power to try and decide the impeachment case. If the case against the Ombudsman will prosper, the Senate President will preside over the proceedings. The concurrence of two-thirds of all the members of the Senate is needed to convict the accused. Survivor Gutierrez had survived an impeachment attempt last year. In September 2009, the House justice committee, composed mostly of Arroyo allies, dismissed the first impeachment complaint against her. The complaint was filed by former Senate President Jovito Salonga. Mrs. Arroyo, now a congresswoman representing the second district of Pampanga province, has no intention of attending the hearing, her spokesperson said Thursday. Elena Bautista-Horn said Mrs Arroyo is not a member of the justice committee although she can attend the hearings if she wants to. “Hindi siya attend sa justice. Siguro pwede mag-inhibit siya kasi dapat pag-aralan para may credibility ang process (She will not attend the justice committee hearings. She can inhibit so that the process will have credibility)," she told reporters. - KBK, GMANews.TV