House ethics panel fails to tackle Singson case

The House ethics committee on Tuesday failed to tackle the possible sanction on Ilocos Sur Rep. Ronald Singson, who pleaded guilty in a drug-related case in Hong Kong, after lawmakers clashed on another case filed before the panel. The ethics case against Singson was eclipsed by the complaint filed by the minority bloc against Akbayan party-list Rep. Walden Bello for his supposedly unparliamentary remarks against former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in a privilege speech July last year. The two-hour long discussion on the complaint against Bello started after House Majority Leader Mandaluyong City Rep. Neptali Gonzales II questioned the ethics committee’s jurisdiction over the case. Gonzales said that based on the House rules, the ethics committee may not have jurisdiction over the case since Bello’s supposedly unparliamentary remarks had been stricken out of the chamber’s records. The case stemmed from a privilege speech delivered by Bello last July, where he said that corruption was the trademark of the Arroyo presidency.

Sidetrack Zambales Rep. Milagros Magsaysay, one of the congressmen who filed the complaint against Bello, said technicalities should not be used to “sidetrack" the discussions on the case. “It is very sad that we are fighting over jurisdiction. We are already veering away from the real issue here. I will not allow malign anyone in public especially if he or she is colleague," she said during the hearing. Bohol Rep. Erico Aumentado, House ethics committee chairperson, decided to adjourn the hearing at 4 p.m. without tackling the Singson case to be able to give the members of the panel enough time to study if the panel indeed had jurisdiction to hear the complaint against Bello. Aumentado earlier said that he is planning to lead the House panel to settle the Singson case within the month. The House committee unanimously approved two weeks ago a resolution paving the way for an investigation on Singson even without a formal ethics complaint filed against him. The House panel made this move after Singson pleaded guilty to drug trafficking charges before the Hong Kong District Court. The son of Ilocos Sur Governor Luis "Chavit" Singson said he went on a cocaine-and-gambling binge after attending an Usher concert in Manila he helped stage on July 9, frustrated by an argument with his girlfriend. He then decided to join a friend attending a poker tournament in Macau and was arrested while transiting through Hong Kong. A two-thirds vote of the lower chamber’s 283 members is required to either suspend or expel Singson from his post. — KBK, GMA News