The House committee on justice is planning to hold daily hearings on the impeachment case against Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez after the Supreme Court (SC) allowed the panel to push through with the proceedings. In an interview on Tuesday, Iloilo Rep. Niel Tupas, committee chairperson, said the panel will conduct "marathon" hearings in order to vote on the probable cause of the case before the House goes on a break in March. "Magkakaroon talaga ng marathon [hearings]. Definitely we will try to finish this before we adjourn in March," Tupas told reporters. Gutierrez will be given three days to respond to the impeachment complaints filed against her, which will be considered during the resumption of the proceedings next week, he added. Tupas likewise said the Ombudsman has “no choice" but to answer the charges against her, even if Gutierrez earlier said that she is planning to ask the high court to reconsider her motion. "I think the SC ruling is quite clear. The Ombudsman has no recourse but to follow the ruling," he said.
Earlier in the day, the SC
allowed the House justice committee to continue hearing the impeachment complaints against Gutierrez, saying that the Ombudsman was not denied due process when she can file an answer to the charges before the House panel. Shortly after the SC conducted its voting, the Office of the Ombudsman issued its statement saying Gutierrez may likely file a motion for reconsideration. "The Office had not yet received the Ombudsman’s official copy of the said Decision. Pending such receipt, the Ombudsman is still studying her options, including the filing of a motion for reconsideration on the said Decision," said the statement. Ilocos Norte Rep. Rodolfo Fariñas, vice-chairperson of the House justice committee, meanwhile commended the SC for allowing the panel to perform a constitutional duty. "This is all about accountability of the Ombudsman and all other high officials who can only be removed from office by impeachment, which the Constitution tasks the House of Representatives as the exclusive power to initiate it," Fariñas said in a text message.
Protector of the Arroyos? Gutierrez, who was named to the post in 2005, has been accused of protecting former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her husband, former First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo by allegedly sitting on cases where the former First Couple have been implicated. Gutierrez and Mr. Arroyo were batch mates at the Ateneo School of Law. The impeachment complaint against Gutierrez listed the following alleged wrongdoings of the Ombudsman:
Failure to act promptly on cases filed against the Arroyo couple and other public officials involved in the overpriced $329-million national broadband network deal, which Mrs. Arroyo suspended in September 2007; Incurring inexcusable delay in the investigation on the death of Ensign Philip Pestaño, with the United Nations even calling the Ombudsman to task for failure to probe the case; Issuing a decision to uphold the legality of the arrest and involuntary detention of Hontiveros by the Philippine National Police in 2005; Failure to investigate the P1-million dinner for Mrs. Arroyo's presidential party at the Le Cirque restaurant in New York; Repeated failure to take prompt action on various cases involving Mrs. Arroyo such as the Mega-Pacific scam, among others; and Refusal to grant ready access to public records such as the Statement of Assets, Net Worth and Liabilities of former Pampanga Rep. and incumbent Ang Galing Pinoy party-list Rep. Juan Miguel Arroyo. — RSJ/KBK, GMA News 
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