Impeachment complaint vs. Bautista may be dismissed, Umali says

House Justice Committee chair Reynaldo Umali on Tuesday said the impeachment complaint lodged against Commission on Elections chairman Andres Bautista might be dismissed for supposedly failing to comply with the requirements in the verification form.

"It may be dismissed because 'yun na nga it did not comply with the requirements of the form," Umali said in a phone patch interview with reporters.

The House panel will hear on Wednesday the impeachment complaint filed against Bautista by former Negros Oriental Representative Jacinto Paras and Atty. Ferdinand Topacio.

The panel has also previously heard the complaints against Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, one of which has already been dismissed for insufficiency in form.

Umali said the verification page of the complaint against Bautista was "faulty."

"It is not based either on personal knowledge or on authentic documents," said Umali, adding that the complaint was merely based on a "belief" which the complainants seemed to have misconstrued as "personal knowledge... and that is not what is required under the rules."

Umali explained that a complainant may only have personal knowledge on their allegations if they, themselves, are involved or present while the act is being committed.

"'Yung violations kunyari 'yung bank accounts, how can they have personal knowledge of that? With respect to the other allegations which cannot be of their personal knowledge, kasi hindi naman sila involved doon," he said.

"They were not there. They were not party to those incidents so they could not have had personal knowledge," he added.

With a "faulty" verification form, Umali said the complaint against Bautista might fail the test of sufficiency in form.

"Kasi ang form requires a verified complaint and ang verified complaint requires either personal knowledge or authentic documents. Nakalagay doon they have personal knowledge thereof or that the allegations nila ay culled from authentic documents," he said.

At a press conference last Thursday, Topacio said they would submit a revised verification page for their complaint against Bautista.

Umali said a motion to correct the verification form had already been submitted, but they still have to discuss it in the committee hearing.

"That will be the subject of a discussion tomorrow when we table their motion to admit 'yung revised verification and that will all depend on the appreciation of each member who will voted the what ever vote we will have on it will be the basis of our decision," he said. — MDM, GMA News