This story
was taken from Bulatlat, the Philippines's alternative weekly
newsmagazine (www.bulatlat.com, www.bulatlat.net, www.bulatlat.org).
Vol. V, No. 32, September 18-24, 2005
People’s Tribunal to Hear Arroyo Impeach Case 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
organized by leading groups and persons involved in the impeachment of the
president. BY DABET CASTAÑEDA 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). © 2005 Bulatlat
■
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‘Hyatt 10’, other new witnesses set to tell all about the president
Bulatlat