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Ombudsman 'wrong forum' to file impeachment rap vs. Comelec chief —party-list lawmaker
A party-list lawmaker on Sunday said the Office of the Ombudsman is the "wrong forum" to file an impeachment complaint against Commission on Elections (Comelec) chairman Andres Bautista.
This, after lawyer Oliver Lozano confirmed that he had filed an impeachment complaint against Bautista before the Ombudsman.
In a radio dzBB interview, Cibac party-list Representative Sherwin Tugna, who also chairs the House suffrage and electoral reforms committee, said the sole jurisdiction to conduct impeachment proceedings is the House of Representatives.
"Noong na-deliberate ang ating Saligang Batas noong 1986-87, 'yung mga miyembro ng ating Constitutional Convention, inilagak ng taumbayan ang proseso ng impeachment, nag iisa yan sa House Committee on Justice at sa Mababang Kapulungan," he said.
A newspaper report on Saturday said Lozano filed the impeachment complaint against Bautista on grounds of culpable violation of the Constitution and betrayal of public trust during his term as head of the Presidential Commission on Good Government and as Comelec chief.
Bautista is currently embroiled in a controversy as his estranged wife, Patricia, had claimed that he has ill-gotten wealth amounting to P1 billion.
The report said that according to Lozano he filed the complaint before the Ombudsman because it has the initial jurisdiction on the matter.
But for Tugna, Lozano approached the "wrong doors" in filing his impeachment complaint.
"'Yang pagkakasampa sa Office of the Ombudsman, wrong forum po 'yan. Kumbaga ho ay maling pinto yong kinatok o maling lugar yong pinuntahan para makapag file ng impeachment complaint," he said.
"Sa House of Representatives po 'yan, sa mababang kapulungan 'yan pina-file. At ang Office of the Ombudsman, being a creation of law, is subservient to the Constitution. Ang Saligang Batas ang pinakamataas na batas natin in the hiearchy of our laws," he added.
