Arroyo impeach case referred to panel; JDV inhibits himself

(Updated 10 p.m.) Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr on Thursday inhibited himself from taking action on the alleged "sham" impeachment complaint against President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Following De Venecia’s surprising announcement, House Deputy Speaker Raul del Mar immediately referred the complaint to the House committee on rules. Early evening, lawmakers agreed to refer the complaint to the committee on justice that has 60 session days to determine whether the complaint is sufficient in form and substance, Senior Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales II told GMANews.TV. The referral to the justice committee kicks off the one- year prohibition on the filing of another impeachment complaint against Mrs Arroyo. In a press conference, De Venecia cited conflict of interest as the reason behind his decision to voluntarily inhibit himself from the impeachment proceedings. De Venecia noted that lawyer Rafael “Roel" Pulido, who filed the impeachment case against Arroyo, also pursued cases against him – including graft charges before the Ombudsman and an ethics complaint in the House over the $329.48-million national broadband network project. "I have therefore decided to voluntarily inhibit myself from any participation involving this impeachment complaint. Let me emphasize that my only reason for inhibiting myself is to avoid any implications of conflict of interest that may arise, considering that the same complainant also filed similar charges against my person," De Venecia said. "Let it not be said that I am doing this to seek any personal leverage or to avoid the filing of any other impeachment complaint," he added. De Venecia delegated his authority to act on the impeachment complaint to Del Mar, who in turn referred the complaint to the House committee on rules. "The verified complaint for the impeachment of President Arroyo filed by Pulido and endorsed by Rep. Edgardo San Luis is hereby referred to Committee on rules for order of business," Del Mar said in the press conference with De Venecia although there has been no formal referral in plenary session. De Venecia’s decision came on the heels of an early-morning meeting between President Arroyo and her allies in the Lower House. Earlier, De Venecia, who was among the 185 lawmakers who attended the meeting, confirmed that the impeachment complaint against the President was discussed during the meeting and hinted that the fate of the impeachment bid may be known within the day. President Arroyo called the meeting a day after De Venecia announced he is not keen on referring the complaint against President Arroyo to the House justice committee, citing allegations of bribery by an official of the President’s political party to gather support for the “weak" impeachment. De Venecia had also ordered a House investigation into the alleged bribe offer- GMANews.TV