At around 10 am today, the House of Representatives voted 173-32 upholding
the decision of the Committee on Justice junking the impeachment complaint
filed against Mrs. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for “insufficiency in
substance”.
Justice Committee
Chair Simeon Datumanong asserted that prior acts of Arroyo are not
considered impeachable.
Representative Edcel
Lagman, the committee’s vice chair, castigated the proponents of the
impeachment complaint. Lagman said, “It began with propaganda and ended
with propaganda.” He said that the seven boxes of evidence are
“self-serving and feeble.”
House Minority Floor
Leader Francis Escudero said in Filipino, “You kept on saying we don’t
have any evidence but you refused to let us present the evidence.”
Unexplained wealth
In a two-hour
interpellation, Deputy House Minority Leader Allan Peter Cayetano asserted
that Arroyo’s refusal to declare all her assets and liabilities (SAL) is
an impeachable offense.
Cayetano
said, “Mali at kulang ang SAL ng pangulo. Kasama sa dapat imbestigahan
ang kanyang immediate family.”
(The statement of assets and
liabilities submitted by the president was wrong and lacking. Her
immediately family should be included in an investigation.)
Cayetano cited
residential units in Caloocan, in San Francisco, California and the Jose
Pidal account allegedly owned by members of the First Family. He said,
“…unexplained wealth is presumed to be ill-gotten.”
At this point,
Datumanong maintained that acts before the present term cannot be ground
for impeachment. Cited in the complaint is Arroyo’s SAL in 2001.
Cayetano refuted
Datumanong, “What matters is whether or not the President declared her
true SAL. Hindi pinag-uusapan kailan binili ang property. (We are
not talking about when she bought the property.) She continues to declare
her SAL to this day.”
Biased
interpretation
Datumanong said, “You
did not get the one-third vote.”
Lagman also addressed
the opposition lawmakers, “You should play by the rules.”
Cayetano said,
“Walang problema sa rules. Ang problema, sa inyong nag-iinterpret ng rules
para mapalusot si Gloria Arroyo.” (There is no problem with the rules.
The problem is with you who interpret the rules to enable Gloria Arroyo to
get away with it.) Bulatlat
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