‘Any attempt to impeach Ombudsman over ACM deal doomed’

Administration lawmakers said yesterday any attempt to impeach Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez will go the way of the unsuccessful impeachment effort against President Arroyo, which was spawned by allegations of cheating in the 2004 elections.

"We won’t block their impeachment bid knowing it is doomed to fail just like their impeachment bid against the President. We could even wrap our negative decision as a Christmas or New Year’s gift to them," Eastern Samar Rep. Marcelino Libanan said of the threats by the Black and White Movement to move for the impeachment of Gutierrez.

Majority lawmakers, by sheer number alone, blocked two impeachment moves against Mrs. Arroyo even before these could be submitted for floor debates.

The Office of the Ombudsman drew brickbats from various sectors following its recent decision to clear officials of the Commission of Elections and the Mega Pacific consortium of any wrongdoing in the P1.3-billion automated counting machine (ACM) deal. The Supreme Court had earlier declared the contract as anomalous.

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. vowed to go to the Supreme Court to seek the reversal of the Ombudsman’s ruling and eventually make those responsible pay.

"I certainly will not stand idle on that. I am going to the Supreme Court to question this because it is my duty as a senator that if there are infractions of the law, I have to stand up and try to do what I can to protect the national interest," he said.

Kilosbayan legal counsel Emilio Capulong announced on Friday the watchdog group would contest the Ombudsman’s ruling before the SC. He said asking the Ombudsman to reconsider its ruling "will just delay the process."

In a joint statement, Libanan and Antique Rep. Exequiel Javier said the Black and White Movement will suffer a "double whammy" if it insists on filing an impeachment case against Gutierrez.

"While no one and nothing will stop Black and White Movement from filing the complaint and lawmakers from endorsing it, these do not assure them of success because they still do not have the numbers," the two congressmen said in a statement.

Libanan said he doubted if anybody in the opposition bloc had bothered to understand the ruling of the Ombudsman and the Supreme Court on the ACMs because of their enthusiasm to have Gutierrez impeached.

"Anyone who plans to file an impeachment complaint should be guided by prudence in order to present a substantive complaint against the subject based on facts," he said.

"Here, we’re once again seeing Black and White Movement being motivated by its bias against the administration in pushing for the Ombudsman’s impeachment," he added.

Libanan said Black and White members led by former social welfare secretary Dinky Soliman should "not let their emotions cloud their judgment because it would be a pity for them to waste their time again."

Javier said the impeachment bid against Gutierrez was doomed to fail for its "utter lack of merit" and because of the House’s "hectic schedule on the national budget and Charter change debates."

"It’s a futile attempt. We have our hands full with our budget and Charter change priorities so they shouldn’t waste our time either," Javier said. "But we will not stop Black and White from filing its complaint and let it experience an embarrassing defeat again," he pointed out.

He added that a promise of endorsement from an opposition lawmaker "is not a guarantee that it will succeed for lack of support from the majority of House members."

House Majority Leader Prospero Nograles earlier said it was the absence during hearings of most of the complainants in the case that did them in. Moreover, he said, there was no clear evidence that election officials connived with the winning bidder.

"They snubbed the hearings several times to prove their charges before the anti-graft body and henceforth, the Ombudsman has to decide based on the evidence presented to them during the course of the investigation," he said.

"One should remember that the burden of proof lies with the complainants, who have apparently chosen to ignore the opportunities given to them by the Ombudsman to prove their allegations," Nograles pointed out.

Pimentel, on the other hand, said the Ombudsman’s "faulty ruling" clashed with that of SC’s. The High Tribunal had ruled that Comelec’s awarding of the ACM contract to Mega Pacific was "in violation of law and jurisprudence and in disregard of its own bidding rules and procedures."