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House to resume hearings on Ombudsman impeachment


(Updated 6:04 p.m.) The House committee on justice on Tuesday voted to resume the hearings on the impeachment complaints against Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez. In a 21-5 vote, the House panel approved a motion by Ilocos Norte Rep. Rodolfo Fariñas to give Gutierrez an additional three days to answer the impeachment complaints filed against her at the lower chamber, effectively resuming the proceedings on the case. “We can no longer allow the Supreme Court to be a superior body dictating upon us what we should do.... They have already tied our hands to act on this case," he said during the hearings. The House justice committee made this move more than a week after the high court allowed it to continue hearing the impeachment complaints against Gutierrez. In its February 15 ruling, the SC said that the Ombudsman was not denied due process when she can file an answer to the charges before the House panel. But Gutierrez maintained that the House panel should wait for the Supreme Court to render a final decision on the petition she filed last September. She added that she has until March 5 to appeal the high tribunal's denial of her petition. "The Ombudsman would simply like to state that she has fifteen (15) days from receipt of the SC Decision or until 05 March 2011, within which to file a Motion for Reconsideration of the latest ruling of the Supreme Court," Gutierrez said in a statement. "No less than [House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte] has announced that the House proceedings will be deferred until after a final ruling is rendered on the Ombudsman’s petition. We believe that this is the appropriate approach," she added. Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago suggested that it would be better if the House panel wait until the SC decision becomes final and executory. Santiago pointed out that if a motion for reconsideration is filed and resolved in favor of Gutierrez, then the House would have to "cycle backwards very quickly." "So to avoid embarrassment—since it will not prejudice the actual case of impeachment—why don’t we wait for it to be executory? There is no need to rush this," she told reporters.
Meeting with Belmonte Deputy Speaker and Quezon Rep. Lorenzo Tañada III meanwhile said that he and other members of the justice committee met with Belmonte and a team of lawyers on Monday night to discuss the legalities of resuming impeachment proceedings against Gutierrez. Tañada added that during the hearing, Belmonte was “convinced" that the House justice panel can resume the impeachment proceedings even without the SC’s final ruling on Gutierrez’s petition. “That would show we are one in the position that we would come up with a committee action," he told reporters on Tuesday. Belmonte earlier said that no impeachment proceedings against Gutierrez will be held until the high court rules with finality on the Ombudsman’s motion, to give her a chance to ask the SC to reconsider its ruling. [See story: No impeach proceedings until final SC ruling] Meanwhile, Iloilo Rep. Niel Tupas, chairperson of the House justice committee, said that the panel will vote on the sufficiency of the grounds for the Ombudsman’s impeachment Tuesday next week. “At least, this is not just the position of the chairman of the committee. This is the position of the committee itself and even the Speaker of the House.... There’s no more legal obstacle," he said. Clarificatory hearings will also be held in the next two weeks to give both the complainants and Gutierrez a chance to present evidence before the House panel, he added. After the clarificatory hearings, the committee members will determine if there is probable cause to impeach the Ombudsman. A majority of all the panel’s members will be needed to be able to send the impeachment complaints to the House plenary. Judicial courtesy SC spokesman Marquez, on the other hand, said that because the SC's ruling has not yet attained finality, the House justice committee must exercise judicial courtesy. "I think it would be more prudent if the House can respect this procedure. There's still a 15-day period to file a motion for reconsideration. I think it will be more prudent if we wait for the finality of the decision," said Marquez. Impeachment moves Two separate impeachment complaints were filed last year by party-list group Akbayan and militant group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN), accusing the Ombudsman of betrayal of public trust and culpable violation of the Constitution. Appointed as Ombudsman in 2005, Gutierrez has been accused of protecting former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her husband, former First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo, for 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. Akbayan's impeachment complaint listed the following as alleged wrongdoings committed by 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; 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 pary-list Rep. Juan Miguel Arroyo. — with reports from Sophie Dedace and Kim Tan/RSJ/VVP/LBG/KBK, GMA News
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