Solons: Blue ribbon affirms House decision on Ombudsman's case

(Updated 4:41 p.m.) Lawmakers said on Thursday the Senate blue ribbon committee has affirmed the recent decision of the House justice committee by recommending the impeachment Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez. The Senate blue ribbon committee on Thursday said Gutierrez should be impeached for betraying public trust by entering into a plea bargaining agreement with former military comptroller Maj. Gen. Carlos Garcia, who is facing plunder charges. Ilocos Norte Rep. Rodolfo Fariñas said the Senate blue ribbon committee’s recommendation gives the public a shape of things to come when the impeachment case in the lower chamber is transmitted to the Senate for trial. “It is a foreboding! Like I’ve been saying, two of the charges against her [Gutierrez] are her failure to act on the fertilizer fund scam and euro-generals, where three Senate committees had strongly recommended to her to file plunder cases... As if those were not enough, came the Garcia plea bargain," Fariñas said in a text message to GMA News on Thursday. The House justice committee on Tuesday voted to approve the impeachment case against Gutierrez for plenary discussions and voting, after its members found probable cause to impeach the official for her alleged inaction in five high-profile cases. But Deputy Speaker Quezon Rep. Lorenzo Tañada III clarified that the Senate blue ribbon committee’s recommendations cannot be included in the impeachment case currently pending at the lower chamber. "The articles of impeachment cannot be amended on the floor because it is not like an ordinary piece of legislation," Tañada said in a text message. Despite this, justice panel head Iloilo Rep. Niel Tupas Jr. said the Senate blue ribbon committee’s recommendation may still be used as evidence to prove the allegation of the Ombudsman’s incompetence. "We have a very, very strong case now... If we include the plea bargain agreement, it will make the case even stronger," Tupas said at a press briefing Thursday. Tupas, who will lead the prosecution panel once the impeachment case is transmitted to the Senate, said the team drafting the articles on impeachment will decide on Friday whether or not the Senate panel’s recommendation will be used to bolster the impeachment case. The House justice committee had also earlier asked for the dismissal of Sulit and the filing of appropriate charges against deputy special prosecutors Kallos, Micael, Balmeo, and Capistrano. The committee likewise said Sulit, her deputies, and assistants also displayed "gross inexcusable negligence and dereliction of duty." Other Senate recommendations Aside from Gutierrez, he said the Senate panel is also recommending to President Benigno Aquino III the dismissal and filing of administrative and criminal charges against the prosecutors involved in the plea bargaining agreement, namely:

special prosecutor Wendell Barreras-Sulit;

deputy special prosecutor Roberto Kallos;

deputy special prosecutor Jesus Micael;

assistant special prosecutor Jose Balmeo Jr., and

assistant special prosecutor Joseph Capistrano. "They have also betrayed public trust," Guingona said. ‘Favorite whipping boy’ House Minority Leader Edcel Lagman, for his part, said the recent moves by both chambers of Congress prove that Gutierrez is the Aquino administration’s "favorite whipping boy." Lagman likewise said that including the findings on the Garcia plea bargain deal in the present impeachment case will only be a "virtual admission" of the weakness of the current allegations. "It is a virtual admission that the present complaints are weak and could not legally prosper so much so that there is need to supplement the pending complaints or file a new one," he said in a statement. He also reminded Senate blue ribbon committee chairperson Teofisto Guingona III of the one-year-bar rule that prohibits the filing of another impeachment case against the same official. – VVP/RSJ, GMA News