Citizens’ congress to ‘impeach’ GMA

A "people’s court" to investigate vote-rigging and other allegations against President Arroyo was set up yesterday by her opponents led by former Vice President Teofisto Guingona — the opposition’s own version of an impeachment trial more than a month after the House of Representatives threw out an impeach bid against her.

The Bukluran Para sa Katotohanan announced yesterday the creation of the Citizens’ Congress for Truth and Accountability (CCTA).

Although the effort would carry little legal weight, the President’s critics say the fact-finding investigation would allow them to publicly present alleged evidence of election fraud and corruption against her. The move is expected to further fuel the months-long political crisis.

Hearings were scheduled for Nov. 8 and 9 at the University of the Philippines Center for Social Welfare and on Nov. 15 and 16 at the University of Makati from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The CCTA said the "new impeachment" was their answer to the "brazen killing" of the impeachment proceedings in Congress last Sept. 6 when House plenary deliberations voted 158-51 to dismiss the three impeachment complaints filed against the President.

According to the group, this junking of the impeachment bid "has denied the public the chance to know the truth and demand accountability of the President for the various crimes and misdemeanors for which she is being accused."

Denying that their proceedings amounted to little more than a "kangaroo court," Guingona even encouraged the President to send representatives or lawyers to air their side.

Leaders of the group will present a notice to Mrs. Arroyo today, asking her to appear or send lawyers during public hearings in November. The President, however, will be in Cebu today to inaugurate a new hotel and a power plant project.

They promised to be fair and give the President an adequate chance to present her side.

"This is not going to be a kangaroo court," Guingona told a news conference. "It will be a people’s court. This is going to follow fair play, fair procedure and honest truth. I can say, for my part, there will be sufficient notice, opportunity for the President or her lawyer, or representative, to be present."

"Who knows? If they are present they may be able to convince the public that they are really after the truth," he added.

Malacañang, for its part, ignored the latest opposition move.

"This is just another trick to gain the attention of media," Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye said.

"The opposition is taxing the patience of the nation with wild and useless options," Bunye added.

Bunye said such move was expected from the opposition, which he noted, has consisted failed in their repeated attempts to oust the President.

"That (the citizen’s congress) is the next thing that the opposition will do," Bunye said. "They started with resignation calls — they did not succeed. Then onto impeachment — they also did not succeed. Now they have this proposal on snap polls, it will not succeed because it has no legal basis. Now, they have this investigation," he said.

Bunye stressed the government remains very stable and the President remains focused on governance.

"She (Mrs. Arroyo) has the support of the Cabinet, she has the support of the other sectors of society," he said.

Vowing fairness

Aside from Guingona, other personalities behind the CCTA are Sr. Mary John Mananzan of St. Scholastica’s College and Bro. Edmundo Fernandez, chairman of De La Salle University.

"The proceedings will be open to the public, transparent. I hope the media will be there to cover it, and I myself will never agree to anything that is not in accordance with the facts that will be revealed," Guingona said.

When asked how he could be fair when he has been a longtime critic of the President, Guingona replied: "In the life of a judge, there are circumstances when he leans but that doesn’t make him biased."

"We have to take an oath of fidelity. Circumstances make you a little biased but that doesn’t mean you can’t make an objective judgment in accordance with the evidence presented," he added.

In early September, the House of Representatives, which is dominated by administration lawmakers, threw out all three impeachment complaints against Mrs. Arroyo on a technicality, blocking a politically explosive investigation of allegations that she rigged last year’s elections, committed massive corruption and violated human rights and the Constitution.

The vote meant the opposition can only file another impeachment bid a year after the complaints were rejected, or after Sept. 6, 2006.

The President’s opponents have since ratcheted up protest actions in an effort to inflame the public to take to the streets. The government has responded by restricting rallies, sparking violent clashes between riot police and protesters.

Mrs. Arroyo has rejected opposition calls to resign or hold snap elections, saying such proposals were meant to destabilize her government and put her opponents in power. She has urged the opposition to halt attacks and help bolster the country’s fragile economy.

‘The people will be the judge’ Ma. Serena Diokno, one of the group’s organizers, said the failed impeachment bid in Congress squandered an opportunity to resolve Mrs. Arroyo’s worst crisis and deprived the public of the truth, prolonging political unrest.

The group said several witnesses will give evidence and testimony at its public hearings.

It said evidence already gathered by opposition lawmakers who filed the impeachment complaint against the President would be used in the investigation.

Once the findings are submitted, it will be up to the public to react, the group’s lawyer, Luis Sison, said.

"The people will be the judge. If they want to be the executioner, that’s up to them," Sison said.

The CCTA said its impeachment proceedings are intended to ferret out the truth on the alleged electoral fraud, particularly the "Hello Garci" tape, the use of government funds for bribery and corruption, mounting political repression and massive human rights violations under the "calibrated preemptive response" of the Philippine National Police (PNP).

According to the group, about 400 delegates said to be known for their "integrity and credibility" and coming from various sectors of society will compose the CCTA.

"A team of lawyer-delegates shall serve as the presenters (of the case) and will help delegates and the presidium examine the cases and the pieces of evidence," the CCTA said.

The CCTA’s findings, which are expected before the year ends, will be presented to the public in schools, churches and public institutions like Congress and the Office of the Ombudsman. — With Paolo Romero, AP