Impeachment complaint will self-destruct, Nograles says

The impeachment complaint against President Arroyo does not have to be "killed" by her allies in Congress because it will die a natural death or eventually self-destruct because it will not breathe on its own, House Majority leader Prospero Nograles predicted yesterday.

Nograles reiterated that the lack of endorsement from 78 congressmen "would seal the final nail on the impeachment complaint."

"It’s the opposition’s total failure to get the required number of votes that will kill the impeachment," Nograles said.

"Fact is that it’s not the majority that’s out to write finish to their impeachment complaints. For without support from members of Congress, no resolution or bill or committee will ever see the light of day," he added.

Nograles likewise cited the dwindling number of lawmakers who will vote to send the impeachment case to the Senate for trial, from an initial 35 to a mere 16, way below the measly 51 votes they gathered in the impeachment proceedings last year.

"Still, our records clearly show that only 16 out of the 233 congressmen have expressed interest to impeach the President. At this time, an overwhelming majority believe it is not good policy to impeach the President today," Nograles said.

And if House members will believe the latest Pulse Asia survey’s report that 56 percent of Filipinos want the impeachment complaint revived, then Nograles said they might need to amend the Constitution to be able to impeach the President.

"It’s the vote of the congressmen (on the impeachment) that counts, not the surveys. It establishes a trend but it is not entirely factual," he insisted.

Meanwhile, House Minority Leader Francis Escudero, who is running for senator in the May 2004 polls, predicted administration lawmakers would just give their complaint two weeks before they would finally vote to throw it out, following the end-August timetable of Nograles.

Nograles, who heads the House committee on rules, said they would have to decide the impeachment’s fate before the end of the month since they have to attend to more important matters like the budget and proposed charter amendments.

Some 17 female supporters of Mrs. Arroyo have asked the House to junk the eight impeachment complaints against the Chief Executive.

The intervenors, led by Evelyn Kilayko, filed their five-page motion to dismiss in the office of House secretary general Roberto Nazareno, saying they filed the pleading as concerned Filipino citizens.

Among the grounds they cited were the "weakness" of the "serial impeachment" filing.

They reasoned out that lawmakers have more "productive endeavors" to do than waste time on political activities.

Meanwhile, Bishop Teodoro Bacani said Filipino bishops are no longer optimistic about the chances of any of the eight impeachment complaints against Mrs. Arroyo.

"I have to admit that bishops are no longer optimistic about this process. That is why they said we don’t feel inclined to support the impeachment process," Bacani told reporters.

He, however, clarified that his colleagues in the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) are "open" to such proceedings, if the impeachment process pushes through.

"I would like to make it clear that the bishops are not against impeachment. We are asking that the complaints be heard so that people will be enlightened and to give the President a chance to explain herself," Bacani said. — Delon Porcalla