Ombudsman accuser scored for trying to divide House

An influential anti-corruption watchdog assailed yesterday lawyer Ernesto Francisco for trying to create a wedge among congressmen by filing a supposedly faulty impeachment complaint against Ombudsman Aniano Desierto.

In a one-page manifesto, Willy Calma, president of the Bantay-bayan Foundation, a corruption prevention group with 200,000 members nationwide, denounced Francisco for allegedly being "devoid of credibility because he himself is saddled with a number of criminal cases."

Calma revealed that Francisco is facing two disbarment cases before the Supreme Court for unethical conduct, one of which was filed by a former client Luis Virata.

He added that another lawyer also filed a criminal against Francisco before the Quezon City prosecutors’ office after Francisco supposedly admitted violating the lawyer-client confidentiality rule.

Calma and his group were prompted to issue their manifesto, after being disturbed by reports that Francisco and Misamis Oriental Rep. Oscar Moreno are lobbying for the signatures of other congressmen in the second impeachment complaint against Desierto.

Calma said the move of Francisco and Moreno runs against the Constitution which provides that "no impeachment proceeding shall be initiated against the same government official more than once within a period of one year."

Moreno and Francisco opted to ignore this provision and proceeded to gather the signatures of at least 72 congressmen so they could file the impeachment complaint directly before the Senate, which tries all impeachment complaints approved by the House.

Moreno and Francisco insist this complies with the law.

Francisco filed the first impeachment complaint against Desierto last year but it was junked by the House committee on justice for lack of substance.

To forestall the complaint’s formal rejection, however, Calma said Moreno and Francisco filed the second complaint as a diversionary tactic.

"We appeal to the honorable members of Congress not to give due course to the complaint of Francisco because entertaining the baseless charges would only be a waste of time," Calma noted.

This developed as their group also expressed their solid trust and confidence in the integrity of Desierto.

"Our group reiterates our support for Ombudsman Desierto whom we believe is just a victim of a bigger plot by some sinister groups to destabilize the government," he said.