Philippine Congress buries impeachment bid against Arroyo
3/12/2008 17:44
The Philippine House of Representatives buried the latest impeachment bid
against President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo early this morning, blocking a
possible trial in the Senate.
Voting 183 to 21 with three abstentions, the
Congress dismissed the fourth impeachment complaint of its kind for lack of
substance in a plenary. Deliberations on the complaint, starting last night,
lasted roughly seven hours with pro- and anti-impeachment lawmakers explaining
their stances and questioning justice committee chair Representative Matias
Defensor.
On Nov. 26, the justice committee junked the impeachment complaint
before reporting it to the plenary.
The complaint was filed and endorsed by
opposition congressmen led by the President's former ally Jose de Venecia,
former House Speaker who was ousted by pro-administration congressmen earlier
this year. It detailed allegations of bribery, graft and corruption, betrayal of
public trust, and violation of the Constitution.
The presidential palace
welcomed the Congress decision and denied all the accusations in the
complaint.
"That is (a) welcome development," said Executive Secretary
Eduardo Ermita, who is also the spokeman of President Arroyo.
"We heard that
(the accusations) every time an impeachment complaint is (filed and then)
junked. They just take a stone and throw it at the administration. Anybody can
always make charges, to prove it is another matter," Ermita said.
Impeachment
charges have been filed against President Arroyo every year in the Congress
since 2005. Her term of office will end in mid-2010.
"We will always expect
that (filing of another complaint). What is important is that we do not want to
be distracted from normal governance by all these charges brought about in the
impeachment complaint," Ermita said.
According to the country's constitution,
the president cannot be subjected to another impeachment complaint within one
year, and analysts say that the latest bid might be the last against President
Arroyo as the opposition will be preparing next year for the 2010 presidential
elections.
Xinhua
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