House panel OKs impeach raps vs. Merci for plenary vote

UPDATED 3:00 p.m. - The impeachment complaints against Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez were approved for plenary vote on Tuesday. The members of the House committee on justice found probable cause to remove Gutierrez from her post for betrayal of public trust for her alleged inaction on high-profile cases. Iloilo Rep. Niel Tupas Jr., justice committee chairperson, defined probable cause as “reasonable grounds to support the well-founded belief that the respondent committed an impeachable offense and should be held for trial." “Malinaw pa ho sa sikat ng araw na hindi ginampanan ni Ombudsman Gutierrez ang kanyang sinumpaang tungkulin, nilabag niya ho ang Saligang Batas at wala siyang karapatang manatili sa kanyang puwesto," Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Teodoro Casiño, one of the endorsers of the complaints, said before the vote. The committee will now produce a report of all the findings from the proceedings, which will be transmitted to the plenary for another round of voting. Tupas also designated seven members of the committee— Deputy Speaker Quezon Rep. Lorenzo Tañada III, Ilocos Norte Rep. Rodolfo Farinas, Oriental Mindoro Rep. Reynaldo Umali, Northern Samar Rep. Raul Daza, Dasmarinas Rep. Elpidio Barzaga Jr., AKBAYAN Rep. Kaka Bag-ao and Anakpawis Rep. Rafael Mariano— to draft the articles of impeachment to be used if the lower chamber transmits the case to the Senate. Under 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— in this case, 94 affirmative votes— before it can be transmitted to the Senate for trial. Tupas likewise said he expects the impeachment case to be discussed on the House floor by Tuesday next week, so it will be put on a vote before the month ends. “We are very confident that this will be approved. We took time to study the case and we gave the Ombudsman every opportunity to answer. We think we will get more than the required votes," he said in a press briefing after the hearing. SC denies Gutierrez's motion Meanwhile, also on Tuesday, the Supreme Court (SC) denied Gutierrez's motion for reconsideration to block the House justice committee from hearing the two impeachment complaints against her, SC spokesman Jose Midas Marquez said. The decision was bared by Ilocos Norte Rep. Rodolfo Fariñas, quoting a text message from House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr., during a justice committee hearing on the impeachment complaints. Tupas also said he received the same information from a text message, although he did not identify the sender. The SC decision allowed the justice committee to push through with the impeachment proceedings against Gutierrez. Voting and allegations For the first impeachment complaint, filed by former Akbayan Rep. Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel, the House committee — voting 39 in favor, 9 dissenting, and one abstention — approved a motion by Quezon Rep. Lorenzo Tañada III to find probable cause to impeach Gutierrez. According to Tupas, the following three allegations from the original complaint will be included in the impeachment case to be presented on the House floor:

The alleged dismal and unconscionable low conviction rate of the Ombudsman from 2008 onwards

Alleged 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; and

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 Rep. Umali said four other allegations— including the alleged failure to investigate the P1-million dinner for Mrs. Arroyo's presidential party at the Le Cirque restaurant in New York and the Ombudsman's refusal to provide access to public records-- were excluded from the case since they required "further study." “Siguro kailangan pa pag-aralan. Sa tingin namin, puwede na rin naman sila isali kaya lang sufficient na ‘yung anim na alegasyon para maimpeach ang Ombudsman," he said in the same press briefing. For the second impeachment complaint, filed by BAYAN secretary general Renato Reyes, the House committee — voting 39 in favor, 6 dissenting, and one abstention — also approved a motion to find probable cause to impeach Gutierrez. Three members did not participate in the voting for the second impeachment complaint, for reasons not specified by the committee secretariat. Reyes’ complaint identified the supposed inaction in the alleged P728-million fertilizer fund scam, the Euro generals scandal involving more the P6 million, as well as the Mega Pacific scam, as some of the Ombudsman’s wrongdoings. Malacañang welcomes decision Malacañang on Tuesday welcomed the House justice committee’s approval for plenary vote the impeachment complaints against Gutierrez. The Palace also welcomed the Supreme Court’s junking with finality Gutierrez's motion for reconsideration of the court's decision to allow the House impeachment hearings to proceed. Presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said the two decisions paved the way “for the conduct of the impeachment proceedings as how the Constitution envisions it to be. “So the process is ongoing, with the House committee decision and the recent decision of the SC denying the motion for reconsideration by the Ombudsman, it paves the way for the house and the senate to conduct the impeachment proceedings as how the constitution envisions it to be," Lacierda told reporters. Asked if he thinks President Benigno Simeon Aquino III’s strong stance on the issue helped in the decision of the lawmakers, Lacierda replied in affirmative. He said the committee members determined the probable cause “ based on their appreciation of the allegations and the merit of the complaints." “Certainly the President, with his moral leadership in determining the course for good governance, helped in large measure also in the decision," he said.
Ombudsman laments Aquino's marching orders Earlier on Tuesday, Gutierrez lamented that Aquino has rallied his allies at the House of Representatives to support the bid to impeach her. "I am saddened by the turn of events as the president himself has ordered his allies at the House of Representatives to impeach me," said Gutierrez at a forum organized by the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) in Manila. "It has confirmed our worst fears that the proceedings at the (lower) House has degenerated into a partisan political exercise," she added. On Monday, during a gathering of the Liberal Party in Quezon City, Aquino rallied his fellow party members in the House to support the impeachment of Gutierrez. The President, who is LP chairman, said the Ombudsman supposedly betrayed public trust by sitting on the cases of certain high-ranking government officials of the previous Arroyo administration. Aquino said the impeachment case will serve as a benchmark for those who are for or against the people. “Eto na ang sukatan. Totoo ba tayo sa mga kumalinga sa atin, o pababayaan natin sila? (The time of reckoning has come. Have we stayed true to those who had taken care of us, or shall we turn our backs on them?)," the President said. “Siyempre sino ba ang naghahanap ng away? Pero itong away na ito, hindi puwedeng atrasan ito na hindi tayo taksil sa ating mga kababayan (Of course, who’d go out his way looking for a fight? But this fight is something one cannot retreat from without being traitors to our fellow Filipinos)," the President added. – with Sophia Dedace, Amita Legaspi, VVP, GMA News