House Speaker asks SC to lift order on Ombudsman's case

House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. asked the Supreme Court (SC) to lift the status quo ante order and respect the “exclusive power" of the House to hear the impeachment complaints against Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez. Belmonte said the status quo ante order gave Gutierrez ‘the status of an untouchable’ and “emasculates the power of the House of Representatives to exact any form of accountability" from the Ombudsman. On Monday, Belmonte filed a motion for leave to intervene and comment in intervention ex abundanti cautela before the SC. Belmonte also defended the House justice committee against allegations that it violated the Constitutional provision barring the initiation of impeachment proceedings against the same official more than once within a period of one year. He said the two impeachment complaints against the Ombudsman were filed separately but they were referred to the Committee on Justice simultaneously. He cited the previous case of Francisco vs. House of Representatives which states that an impeachment complaint is deemed initiated upon its referral to the Committee on Justice, and not when it is filed. According to the Speaker, only one impeachment proceeding was initiated when the two complaints were simultaneously referred to the Committee on Justice. He criticized the previous practice which barred the reception of other complaints after the first impeachment complaint against the same official has been filed. “This rewards speed even if it results in hastily crafted complaint and defeats public clamor for accountability," Belmonte said. He also branded the practice as a “way to inoculate an impeachable officer with immunity." Belmonte also asked the High Tribunal to dismiss Gutierrez’ petition for being premature saying the Ombudsman should have followed the rules and answered the charges against her at the justice committee instead immediately seeking relief from the SC. He further said the propriety of the acts of the Committee on Justice is a matter for the House of Representatives in plenary to decide, and not for the Court. He said Gutierrez being “charged with exacting accountability from other public officers" should not fear scrutiny by the House. The House leader said he decided to intervene in the case because it “affects the prerogatives of the House of Representatives." The Ombudsman’s petition only impleaded the House justice committee and its members and not the House as a whole. Belmonte clarified that he is “not conceding the Constitutional status of the House of Representatives as a co-equal", and that his intervention should not be interpreted as his “endorsement of the merits of any of the existing charges" against Guttierez. The Speaker is represented in his intervention by Professor Marvic Mario Victor Leonen, Dean of the UP College of Law. –VVP, GMANews.TV