Arroyo Off Impeachment Hook Anew

Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo survived yet another attempt to remove her from power on Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2008, as her allies in the House of Representatives used their numerical superiority to scrap the fourth impeachment complaint against her.

After a marathon hearing, the House Justice Committee voted 42-8 dismissing the latest impeachment bid against Arroyo, declaring the complaint “insufficient in substance.”

The impeachment complaint accused Arroyo of bribery, graft and corruption, betrayal of public trust,  and violation of the Constitution.

Rep. Matias Defensor, chairman of the House Justice Committee, said the committee will now prepare a report, which will then be given to the Committee on Rules. He said it is up to the House Committee on Rules to determine when to submit the committee report to the plenary.

He said a one-third vote of the 238 members of the House of Representatives can still overturn the vote of the House Committee on Justice. Each congressman will be given a chance to explain his or her vote, he said.

House Speaker Prospero Nograles welcomed the result of the vote, saying it reflected the sense of the House that “impeachment is ill-timed in the face of the global crisis and will only exacerbate conditions from bad to worse.”

For his part, former Speaker Jose de Venecia expressed dismay at his colleagues’ response to the impeachment complaint. He expressed doubts that the result of the vote can still be overturned during the plenary debate in the coming days.

“They played the numbers game so we may have to rethink whether impeachment complaints should be determined on the basis of merit or numbers,” De Venecia said.

Before the vote, House Minority Leader Ronaldo Zamora implored his colleagues to clear the way for Arroyo’s impeachment, saying this would give the President a chance to answer charges hurled against her.

Zamora said it is in Arroyo’s interest that she be given a platform to answer the charges hurled against her in the complaint.

“It is in the interest of the nation, it is in the interest of the President herself that the issues in this complaint be answered,” Zamora said.

In rebuttal, Representative Edcel Lagman said the impeachment complaint merely contained “recycled grounds” which have previously been thrown out by lawmakers for insufficiency in substance.

Lagman said the latest complaint against Arroyo deserved a similar dismissal because it was “bereft of ultimate facts” which would show the guilt of the President.

“Exhumed carcasses must be laid back to the graveyard,” Lagman said.

Earlier, Zamora said he and other members of the opposition in the House had expected the scrapping of the latest impeachment complaint against Arroyo.

“I’m not hoping that we’re going to win here because we are outnumbered five to one,” Zamora said in a television interview.

He admitted there is “little hope” of getting more support for the complaint during the plenary debates. “We need to get one-third at the plenary, which is very difficult,” he said.