Pimentel traces House apathy vs GMA impeach move

Congressmen probably refused to act on the impeachment complaint against President Arroyo because she had abandoned her 2004 election bid, opposition Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr. said.

"The impeachment move against the President won’t wash because it goes against the grain of Filipino culture and values. You don’t kick anyone who is down," he told reporters in an interview.

Since the purpose of an impeachment is to remove someone from office, Pimentel said lawmakers "in general don’t see the need for it because Mrs. Arroyo will bow out of office after 17 months anyway."

Rep. Juan Miguel Zubiri (Lakas, Bukidnon) said even opposition congressmen were reluctant to endorse the complaint. "There is bipartisan sentiment to allow the President to pursue her reform program in peace and free from congressional heckling," he said.

And if the complainants do find a sympathetic soul, their petition would most likely be junked by the Lakas-NUCD-dominated House of Representatives, Zubiri said.

Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Crispin Beltran said they are studying the complaint.

"We are studying the complaint seriously," he said. "The allegations and accusations of corruption against President Arroyo, as stated in the complaint, are already well known. But the crafting of the complaint appears to need more strengthening."

House secretary general Roberto Nazareno on Wednesday refused to accept the complaint when it was presented to him by petitioners led by Linda Montayre of the People’s Consultative Assembly.

Nazareno told the petitioners that, without an endorser, he cannot accept a complaint because the House impeachment rules require that a petition should be accompanied by a resolution of endorsement by at least one member of the chamber.

House Minority Leader Carlos Padilla said opposition legislators are willing to support the impeachment complaint, provided it is supported with strong evidence.

In late 2000, Joseph Estrada became the country’s first sitting president to be impeached on alleged plunder and corruption charges.

He was ousted in January the following year and replaced by then Vice President Gloria Arroyo in a military-backed popular uprising when pro-Estrada senators undermined his impeachment trial which ended in a farce.

Detained in a Quezon City military hospital, Estrada is now on trial for plunder and other corruption charges.

Prosecutors accuse him of running an illegal gambling protection racket, misusing state funds and profiting from insider trading. – With Perseus Echeminada