GMA hands off on impeach proceedings vs Ombudsman
By PAOLO ROMERO

Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will not participate in the impeachment proceedings against Ombudsman Merceditas Guitierrez, her spokesperson Elena Bautista-Horn said. Horn said the former president is not a member of justice committee of the House of Representatives that would require her to attend the impeachment hearings against her former appointee. “She wont’ attend the (hearings in the) justice committee because this must be studied and so that there will be credibility in the process,” Horn said. She stressed Arroyo is a member of the house committee on foreign affairs and her presence in the committee on justice that would hear the impeachment complaint against Gutierrez is not required of her. “But we will participate in other committees, especially if she has bills that would be discussed,” Horn said. Militant party list groups initiated the impeachment complaint, accusing Gutierrez of not acting on the graft and human rights cases involving Arroyo. The Akbayan party-list group filed its impeachement complaint on July 22 followed by Bayan Muna on Aug. 3, accusing Guttierez of culpable violation of the Constitution and betrayal of public trust. The complaint titled by Akbayan was referred to the justice committee while that of Bayan Muna was deferred since the House could only accommodate one impeachment complaint in a year.

Speaker Feliciano BelmonteJr. Last week said he would study the second complaint and “find out if it is not frivolous and but contains serious allegations” and refer it to the rules committee. Iloilo Rep. Niel Tupas, chairman of the justice committee that would tackle the complaint, earlier said it is likely the second complaint would be rejected by the panel. “The committee cannot handle two cases, only one, based on the impeachment rules on the 14th Congress,” Tupas said. He said the complaint filed by Bayan Muna could not be consolidated with the first complaint of Akbayan since it was not allowed by the rules as adopted by the house in the previous impeachment proceedings. “What will most likely happen is we will adopt the impeachment rules of he 14th Congress provisionally and then we will discuss amendments to it, “Tupas said.