Solons: Evidence on Ombudsman’s inaction 'strong'

Three lawmakers said on Thursday the evidence supporting the impeachment complaints against Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez were “strong" and that the case could be a "shoo-in" at the committee level. Deputy Speaker Quezon Rep. Lorenzo Tañada III, a member of the House justice committee hearing Gutierrez’s impeachment case, said the evidence showed there was “no movement at all" in high-profile cases filed before the Office of the Ombudsman. “Based on what I’ve seen in the documents, there is strong evidence that there is inaction on the part of the Ombudsman," he said in a press briefing on Thursday. Based on his own assessment, Tañada said some of the cases against Gutierrez did not even need witnesses because the documents were enough to support the complainants’ claims. Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Teodoro Casiño, another endorser of the impeachment complaints against the Ombudsman, for his part said that he thinks the case against Gutierrez is a “shoo-in" at the committee level. “It definitely feels better now. Nung nakaraan kami nag-aalboroto. Ngayon, we are allowed to really present the case... I think, as I can see, at the committee level, it is a shoo-in," he said. Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Neri Colmenares, an endorser of the impeachment cases, meanwhile said the complainants presented the “best" witnesses to bolster their accusations against Gutierrez. “These are direct witnesses. The best witnesses are the people who filed the complaint before the Ombudsman that were not acted upon," he said. The House committee on justice held on Wednesday clarificatory hearings on the impeachment complaints against Gutierrez, where pieces of evidence on the official’s supposed inaction were laid down by the complainants. Members of the House justice panel are set to vote next week if there is probable cause to impeach Gutierrez. If the committee finds probable cause to impeach Gutierrez, the impeachment cases will be transmitted to the plenary for another round of voting. According to Section 3, Article XI of the 1987 Constitution, the impeachment complaint against the Ombudsman will have to get a one-third vote of all House members, before it can be transmitted to the Senate for trial. – VVP, GMA News