IN THE BELLY OF THE
BEAST: Bayan-USA activists demonstrate against U.S.-Arroyo
regime in New York, Sept. 15
Photo courtesy of Bayan-USA
The
administration-dominated House of Representatives may have aborted the
impeachment complaint against President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo two weeks
ago but the president will still be summoned to defend herself in a
different court. On Oct. 4, Macapagal-Arroyo, who had faced impeachable
offenses for electoral fraud, illegal numbers game, human rights
violations and other charges, will face the People’s Tribunal being
organized by leading groups and persons involved in the impeachment of the
president.
The tribunal
will last from Oct. 4 – 16 and will likely be held in Quezon City,
organizers told Bulatlat over the weekend.
Organized by
the Bukluran para sa Katotohanan (Coalition for Truth) which counts almost
50 major organizations as affiliates, the 12-day tribunal will involve the
House opposition members who steered the impeachment until it was shot
down by the same chamber. Reps. Ronnie Zamora (lone district, San Juan),
Francis “Chiz” Escudero (first district, Sorsogon), and Clavel Martinez
(fourth district, Cebu City) will lead the prosecution team against
Macapagal-Arroyo.
Former and
present senators, retired justices and other prominent personalities will
act as the 5-day tribunal’s presiding judges. No names have been revealed
by Bukluran, however.
The House
prosecutors will be backed by the Roque and Butuyan Law Offices (lawyers
Harry Roque Jr., Joel Ruiz Butuyan and Romel Regalado Bagares); Prof.
Pacifico Agabin, Dean of the Lyceum College of Law; Ibarra M. Gutierrez,
Napoleon Poblador; Eugenio Villareal, Reynaldo Bustos Robles, Remedios
Balbin and Neri Colmenares of the Counsels for the Defense of Liberties (CODAL).
The College of
Jurors will be composed of members of people’s organizations and “civil
society” groups. The jurors will be limited to representatives of the
youth.
The prosecution
team in the tribunal is also expected to field in new witnesses who would
testify on the allegations of electoral fraud while former Palace
officials collectively known as the “Hyatt 10” will tell everything they
know about the charges before the public, organizers said.
The indoor
tribunal is expected to be witnessed by thousands of people led by
organizations, groups, schools and institutions who have publicly declared
their call for the president’s resignation.
Accused to
be summoned
CODAL’S
Colmenares, who was also part of the opposition’s private prosecutors in
the House impeachment, said the tribunal will notify the president about
the charges and that she in turn will be given all the opportunity to
defend herself. In short, the Bayan Muna legal counsel also said, the
tribunal will follow the due process of law.
If the
president refuses to appear before the Tribunal, he told Bulatlat,
she will still be given a credible and an honest-to-goodness defense on
her behalf.
Macapagal-Arroyo
had earlier been indicted by the
International People’s Tribunal that convened in Quezon City last Aug.
19. She was found guilty by the jurors composed of delegates from foreign
countries.
She will also
be the second president to be indicted before a people’s tribunal. The
late dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos was tried by the Permanent People’s
Tribunal (PPT) Session on the Philippines in October 1980 in Antwerp,
Belgium.
In its judgment, the PPT declared
that the Marcos dictatorship did not anymore represent the Filipino
people, and recognized the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP)
and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) as the true representatives
of the Filipino and Moro peoples.
The new
tribunal’s organizer, Bukluran, includes two most popular widows who have
called for Macapagal-Arroyo’s removal from office - former President
Corazon Cojuangco-Aquino and actress Susan Roces, wife of May 2004
presidential candidate Fernando Poe, Jr. Poe is widely believed to have
won the presidential race with Macapagal-Arroyo now accused of committing
electoral fraud in order to win.
Bukluran’s
spokesperson is La Salle president Bro. Armin Luistro.
Colmenares also
said that the tribunal would serve as a forum wherein the cases lodged
against the president will be presented as a whole.
He recalled
that the evidences against Macapagal-Arroyo have been presented in
different venues with the jueteng pay-off scandal, the Jose Pidal issue
and Tabayoyong case are being heard by different committees in the Senate.
Five joint
committees in Congress are meanwhile hearing the controversial wiretapped
conversations between the president and an election official, widely known
as the “Garci Tapes.” A separate House committee is also investigating the
president’s alleged abuse of public funds for electioneering.
The issue on
political assassinations, meanwhile, has yet to be discussed in a proper
venue.
All
evidences
“The
impeachment proceedings could have been the venue where the public will be
given a chance to hear and see the evidences against the president but we
were never given a chance to do so,” Colmenares said.
The cases that
would be taken up by the tribunal, Colmenares said, will be confined to
the amended impeachment complaint filed by opposition congressmen,
people’s organizations and private individuals at the House on July 25.
In the amended
impeachment complaint, the president is accused of violating her oath and
is also charged with culpable violation of the Constitution, betrayal of
public trust, bribery and graft and corruption.
The president
is charged with committing electoral fraud as evidenced by the “Garci
Tapes” and gross human rights violations when she acquiesced in and
provided impunity to the killings of political dissenters. She is also
charged with approving contracts like the North rail and the Piatco NAIA
Terminal II, which allegedly proved grossly disadvantageous to the
government. She is likewise accused of accepting illegal gambling payola
and using public funds for electioneering.
Overseeing the
preparations for the tribunal is a 10-member steering committee composed
of lawyer Louie Sison of Bangon Pilipinas, chairman; Colmenares, vice
chair; Reps. Francis Escudero and Ronnie Zamora representing the House
impeachment team; Liddy Nakpil of Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC);
Linggoy Alcuaz of the National Coalition of Concerned Volunteers (NCCV);
Nathanael Santiago, Bayan Muna secretary general representing the
Solidarity Movement; Manuel Quezon of Bukluran; Gerry Bulatao of the Black
and White Movement; and lawyer Nasser Marohomsalic.
A survey by the
Social Weather Station (SWS) covering Aug. 26-Sept. 5 shows that 79
percent of the population wants the president impeached, 64 percent
favored her resignation while 51 percent said she should be removed
through People Power if the House of Representatives would fail to impeach
her.
Bulatlat
Members of
the Bukluran para sa Katotohanan include AKBAYAN Citizen’s Action Party,
Ateneo Concerned Faculty and Youth, Bangon, Pilipinas, Bagong Alyansang
Makabayan (BAYAN), Be Not Afraid, Black & White Movement, Citizens for
TRUTH (Transparency, Responsibility,Unity, Trust, Hope), Citizens for
Truth, Resignation, Impeachment, or Ouster (C4T), Coalition for National
SolidarityCounsels for the Defense of Civil Liberties (CODAL), De La
Salle, FPJP Movement, Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC), Interfaith
Movement for Truth, Justice and Genuine Change (IFM)Kilusan ng Makabansang
Ekonomiya (KME), Laban ng Masa, Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF),
Peoples Assembly for Genuine Alternatives to Social Apathy (PAG-ASA),
Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP), Reporma, Union of Muslims for Morality
and Truth (UMMAT), United Opposition (UNO), Unity for Truth and Justice,
UP AWARE, UP Diliman Student Council (UPD USC), White Ribbon Movement,
Women March, Youth DARE, Action for Economic Reforms, Alert and Concerned
Employees for Better SSS (ACCESS), Anti-Crime Civilian Task Force (ACCT
FORCE), Alyansa ng Lapiang Security Guards sa Pilipinas (ALAS), Alyansa ng
mga Malayang Obrero (AMO), Bureau of Broadcast Services Employees
Association (BBSEA), Coalition for Reform and Empowerment (CARE), Coca
Cola Bottlers Philippines Monthlies Employees Union (CCBPMEU),
Construction Workers Solidarity (CWS), Electric Cooperatives Officers of
the Philippines (ECOP), Grand Order of the Unified Guardians (GOUNIG),
Guardians International Brotherhood Federal (GIBF), Hasik ng Lahi, Isulong
ang Maralitang Pilipino (ISMARPIL), Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan All
Filipino Democratic Movement (KAAKBAY), Katipunan ng mga Barangay Tanod ng
Pilipinas (KABATA), Kilusan Tungo sa Repormang Agraryo (Kilos AR),
Malayang Kabataang Pilipino (MKP), Mamamayan Kaagapay ng Bayan (MAKABAYAN),
Martsa ng Bayan, Miascor Workers Union (MWU), Muslim Organization for
Solidarity, Liberty and Equality for the Masses (MOSLEM), National Labor
Union (NLU), National Wages and Productivity Commission Employees
Association (NWPCEA), NEA BANDIDO, Pambansang Samahan ng mga Tsuper at
Operators ng Pilipinas (PASATROPA), Panay Negros Brotherhood Organization
(PNB Org), People's Alliance for Democracy and Reform (PADER), Philippine
Airlines Association (PALEA), Philippine Congress of Employees (PCE),
Philippine National Unions Council (PNUC), PI Mnufacturing Employees
Associatio (PIMEA), Solidarity, Sto. Nino Employees Association (SNEA),
Sulong Masang Pilipino (SUMAPI), Triskelion Relief Operations and Public
Assistance (TROPA), Unified Land Transport Registered Association of the
Philippines (ULTRA), Union of Filipino Service Workers (UFSW) and United
Muslim Association of the Philippines (UMAP).
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