House to act on impeach case vs Gutierrez this week

MANILA, Philippines - The House of Representatives is expected to act this week on the impeachment complaint against Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez.

This as key members of the House Committee on Justice stressed they will not be swayed by a well-funded smear campaign in deciding the impeachment case filed against the Ombudsman.

Speaker Prospero Nograles has announced that the rules committee, chaired by Majority Leader Arthur Defensor, would tackle the case in its regular weekly meeting tomorrow.

He said he has asked the committee to include the complaint against Gutierrez in the House order of business so he can refer it to the committee on justice, which Quezon City Rep. Matias Defensor chairs.

Under the House impeachment rules, Nograles has 10 session days to send a complaint to the justice committee.

The case against Gutierrez was filed last March 2, four days before Congress went on its five-week Lenten break. It resumes session today.

The earliest Nograles can refer the Gutierrez case to the committee on justice is Wednesday.

Committee chairman Defensor has promised to start hearings as soon as his panel receives the complaint.

Former Senate president Jovito Salonga and 30 other prominent private citizens filed the case against the Ombudsman.

In their 33-page petition, the complainants accused the Ombudsman of “gross incompetence, betrayal of public trust and culpable violation of the Constitution.”

They said public trust in the Office of the Ombudsman has collapsed since President Arroyo appointed Gutierrez as head of the agency in December 2005.

“High profile cases that involve graft and corruption of insurmountable amounts of public funds have either been gathering dust or have been permanently relegated to the archives,” they said.

Meantime, lawmakers led by Representatives Mauricio Domogan and Giorgidi Aggabao vowed that the House justice panel will act on the impeachment issue against Gutierrez based on merit in the wake of reports that detractors of the embattled chief anti-graft prosecutor reportedly vowed to use the media to pressure members of the committee on justice to recommend her removal from office.