House justice committee kills impeachment bid vs Arroyo

Voting 56-24, the House of Representatives justice committee on Wednesday evening junked the impeachment complaint against President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, after only two days of public hearing to determine its substance. The House is expected to meet in plenary next week to vote on whether to uphold or revise the justice committee report dismissing the complaint. Pro-impeachment lawmakers need 78 votes, or one-third of the House, to overturn the committee’s decision and send the complaint to the Senate for trial. Mrs Arroyo was charged with culpable violation of the Constitution, graft and corruption, betrayal of public trust, and high crimes. House Minority Leader Francis Escudero expressed dismay over the junking of the complaint, saying it only shows that Mrs. Arroyo’s allies were fearful of the seven boxes containing evidence that the opposition says would prove the charges lodged against the President. “Our challenge and our plea is that they allow us to present evidence not before media, not outside, but inside Congress," said Escudero in Filipino over GMA's dzBB radio. House justice committee chairman Simeon Datumanong, an Arroyo ally, asserted that the pro-administration lawmakers voted to junk the complaint after debating its merits. “We did not railroad the proceedings. We had a free debate. I expect that more votes will be added once the report of the committee is subjected to a plenary vote next week," Datumanong said. This is the second impeachment against Mrs Arroyo that has been junked. Last year, the complaint was also dismissed due to insufficiency in substance. The opposition mustered 51 votes in the plenary last year, short of getting the needed 79 signatures. The number of needed votes went down after three congressmen were appointed to the Arroyo cabinet—now Interior Secretary Rolando Puno, Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya, and Education Secretary Jesli Lapus. Earlier, members of the Black and White Movement who filed the impeachment complaint recognized by the House trooped to the Batasan Pambansa wearing black to “mourn" what they said was the impending “death" of the bid to impeach Mrs Arroyo. In the committee's proceedings on the impeachment complaint earlier in the day, Escudero had argued that if lawmakers rule that the complaint is sufficient in substance, it would actually give the President the chance to answer charges lodged against her. “Why don’t you give her a chance to say her piece on the allegations? If you say she is not guilty, why not let her answer the charges?," Escudero said. “If you vote that there is no substance, you would practically bury, forget, padlock and seal the boxes of evidence that we have. They say the allegations are recycled, like used clothings. This is sad. It seems that only the justice committee does not know of the misdemeanors of the President. This committee has practically turned blind and deaf," he added. Pro-administration lawmakers, on the other hand, said the opposition can only blame themselves for what seems like the impending defeat of the second attempt to impeach President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. “As early as last year, the opposition obtained the rope to kill future impeachment bids when they rejected a majority-sponsored rule for impeachment proceedings that allowed presentation of evidence at this stage, before the determination of sufficiency of substance," Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman said in a summation of arguments raised by the anti-impeachment lawmakers in the House. Lagman is also vice-chairman of the House justice committee that conducted hearings on the impeachment complaint. “The justice committee will not kill the impeachment complaint, it was already dead on arrival," the pro-administration lawmaker said. -GMANews.TV