Impeachment bid vs Arroyo doomed - Puno

A senior Cabinet official on Monday expressed confidence that the new impeachment complaint against President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will "die a natural death" because it will fail to drum up enough support from congressmen. Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno, also concurrent presidential political adviser, issued the statement at a press conference in Camp Crame. "I think that any kind of impeachment action will not prosper. It's a numbers game, and there are only 30 members of the opposition in the House so it's a wishful thinking that they can break up the administration," Puno said. Lawyer Ruel Pulido, a former counsel of the mutinous Magdalo group, lodged an impeachment complaint against Mrs Arroyo last Friday afternoon before the House of Representatives, with the endorsement of Laguna Rep. Edgar San Luis. The complaint stemmed from the alleged irregularities hounding the national broadband network (NBN) project. "I think this attempt of the opposition to try to impeach is a non-starter. It will not get anywhere," Puno said. At the same time, Puno, the chairman of the Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino (Kampi), denied reports that San Luis is allied with the Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino (Kampi) party founded by Mrs Arroyo. "He has never been and is not a member of Kampi," Puno said of the lawmaker. Puno appealed to the members of Congress to focus instead on "legislating" since there is a need to review a lot of laws. Asked if the fresh complaint will steer another political unrest in the streets, the DILG chief said: "I think the people are fed up with rallies already so I doubt if there will be any." - GMANews.TV