Philippines: <PERSON>’s “Third” Impeachment Complaint · Global Voices
Coming at the heels of the controversial National Broadband Network contract with Chinese firm ZTE, <PERSON> on Friday (Oct. 6) was slapped an impeachment complaint before the House of Representatives.
The political opposition and the broad <PERSON> movement should be rejoicing over it but nobody among the groups has owned up the cause. <PERSON> swiftly sees it and says the filing of the complaint and the President's issuance of a statement while on a trip in India was “perfectly orchestrated and timed”.
It's a sham, says <PERSON> and goes on to explain why:
The impeachment complaint filed by Atty. <PERSON> against <PERSON> last Friday was a big joke. First, the complaint was very week with lots of loopholes to ensure it will loose in a legal forum. Second, it was filed prematurely without consultation from concerned sectors/individuals who were already involved in the struggle for truth since 2005 (Such as the Church, business groups, political opposition, civil society, etc). Third, the word is out that Atty. <PERSON> had talks with <PERSON> before he dropped the Magdalo officers as their counsel. He is currently a staff of Sen <PERSON>.
It is so obvious that they are trying to sabotage the possibility of any legitimate impeachment complaint being filed against GMA. This tactic is no different from the stunt of Atty <PERSON> last 2005 & 2006. This is a very suspicious impeachment complaint thus I call on all patriotic Filipinos to be watchful and remain vigilant.
<PERSON>, an <PERSON> critic in the media and the blogosphere, is suspicious and cites her reasons.
The president expectedly “pooh-poohs” the complaint which a member of Congress described as being “designed to fail and not worth the paper it was printed on”.
The House meanwhile is shocked over news that certain persons connected with the Palace tried to bribe oppositionist congressmen into signing the <PERSON> impeachment complaint. 289
By Tuesday (Oct. 9), Anakpawis (Toiling Masses Representative <PERSON> comes out with the name of <PERSON>, deputy secretary-general of President <PERSON>'s party Kampi, as the person who tried to buy his signature for two million pesos.
The <PERSON> camp's transparent effort to vaccinate the President from a legit impeachment complaint is not lost on The Lonely Vampire Chronicles who argues that the constitutional weapon to hold high officials accountable — impeachment — is “broken” and “needs to be fixed”:
Anyway, as much as I want <PERSON> impeached, the chances for such is much closer to nil than in 2005. With the impeachment reduced to a game, and with <PERSON> having the numbers at the Lower House, pardon me if I am very much skeptical of the process. Now, if <PERSON> pushes the wrong buttons, I might reconsider. Like, pulling the rug off the Speaker’s feet. Or, a strong clamor from all parts of the society (in your dreams).
Yes, the process is broken, and it needs to be fixed.
Taking a dig at <PERSON>, the erstwhile lawyer of <PERSON> soldiers who later fired him as counsel, uniffors baptized him with a new first name. Instead of calling him <PERSON>, the blog dubs him <PERSON> in an obvious reference to <PERSON> who filed a similarly weak and much-maligned impeachment complaint in 2006.
Whatever the motive of <PERSON> and <PERSON> Rep. <PERSON> (the congressman who endorsed the complaint as required by the Constitution and the House impeachment rules), <PERSON> says it only means one thing:
Anyway, the actions of the administration simply points out to one thing: di pa rin nawawala ang shaky ground nila [they still stand on shaky ground]. To consider: ex-Commissioner <PERSON> might still spill more beans. Unless he flies away. Who knows?
The impeachment complaint needs to muster signatures of at least 80 congressmen for it to be transmitted to the Senate for trial.
To know more about the impeachment process in the Philippines, you may refer to the Rules on Impeachment of the House of Representatives, Rules of Procedure in Impeachment Trials in the Senate, and the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism team blog for an archive on the two previous impeachment complaints against <PERSON>. 1010