House resumes impeachment hearing vs Ombudsman

MANILA, Philippines – The House committee on justice is giving critics of Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez more time to explain the 33-page impeachment complaint they filed against her.

The decision came after Bayan Muna Rep. Satur Ocampo moved that they be allowed an hour and a half to explain the impeachment charges.

Committee chairman Quezon City Rep. Matias Defensor approved Ocampo’s motion after no objections were raised.

Next week’s hearing will be allotted entirely to the House opposition bloc, with Ocampo in charge of the recital of facts of the impeachment complaint.

The Defensor panel will schedule another hearing, this time to give those opposed to the impeachment charges reasonable time to raise their points.

Defensor expects a final resolution on the case after President Arroyo delivers her last State of the Nation Address on July 27. He said his committee is likely to submit its report for plenary action before the June 3 adjournment of Congress.

“The problem is time constraint,” he told reporters. “We can’t finish it before June 3. Even the plenary has 10 days to calendar this.”

He said it would also take some time before the committee could vote on the sufficiency in substance of the complaint, as it would have to hear the recital of facts of the endorsers of the complaint as well as the reply of anti-impeachment lawmakers.

Maguindanao Rep. Dida-gen Dilangalen wanted the process expedited, but nevertheless withdrew his motion.

“I’m not against my colleagues. But I wish to remind everybody during the first impeachment complaint against GMA that we stuck to the rules. We relied on the recital of facts. We lost. But did we complain? We did not,” he said, drawing laughter from the crowd.

“The recital of facts is incomplete. Why explain it if it is complete? That is the only logical reason. Although they are my colleagues in the minority,” Dilangalen added.

“For purposes of brevity, why don’t we confine ourselves to the recital of facts? This is what the rules say.”

Lakas Rep. Monico Puen-tevella of Bacolod City shared Dilangalen’s views, adding that the endorsers were only after media mileage. “At the end of the day, it is a numbers game. Sometimes we have to be realistic. We have studied all of these already,” he said.

“If you (Akbayan Rep. Risa Hontiveros et al) want media mileage, then do it in plenary. If you lose, then try again. Win or lose, that is the name of the game in the House. This proceeding is time-consuming. At the floor, you are given all the time that you want,” he said.

Meanwhile, former justice secretary Serafin Cuevas expressed confidence the charges against Gutierrez – his undersecretary during the time of deposed President Joseph Estrada – will eventually be dismissed for lack of substance or merit.

 “If she (Ombudsman) violated due process, then the complainants should be either of the two parties,” he told reporters in an ambush interview.

He was referring to allegations in the impeachment complaint that she showed “gross and manifest incompetence” in suspending Iloilo Gov. Niel Tupas for two counts of malversation in 2005, and for holding Bataan Gov. Enrique Garcia liable for plunder, falsification of public documents and malversation in November 2008.