Solon hits proposed House impeach rules

Rep. Oscar Moreno (Lakas, Misamis Oriental) criticized yesterday the proposed impeachment rules of the House of Representatives, saying if these are approved, it would be harder for the chamber to initiate impeachment proceedings.

Moreno told reporters that the draft rules would make the impeachment process more complex and difficult than it was when the House impeached ousted President Joseph Estrada last November.

He said he would propose some amendments when the chamber tackles the proposed rules on Monday but that he does not want to unduly delay their adoption so that the committee on justice can begin taking on the impeachment complaint against Ombudsman Aniano Desierto.

The House has not referred the complaint to the justice committee because it has yet to adopt the rules.

Moreno was a member of the House panel that prosecuted Estrada in his Senate impeachment trial. He and then Makati Rep. Joker Arroyo were the prosecutors who exposed the alleged P3.2 billion Jose Velarde account of the former president in Equitable PCIBank.

The Mindanao congressman was the lone endorser of the complaint against Desierto when it was filed by lawyer Ernesto Francisco. He was later joined by activist Representatives Satur Ocampo, Crispin Beltran and Liza Maza.

The impeachment rules were drafted by a committee composed of representatives from the majority and the minority and chaired by Senior Deputy Majority Leader Francis Escudero.

Escudero said the rules were designed to correct the "defects" of the impeachment process used in Estrada’s case.

"There were short cuts resorted to which should now be eliminated because impeachment is a serious process," he said.

Citing a specific example, he said the requirement that one-third of all House members should endorse an impeachment complaint so that it can be sent directly to the Senate has been clarified.

Under the proposed rules, that requirement should be met upon filing and not after filing, he said.

Moreno said the particular rule cited by Escudero would go against the provisions of the Constitution.

He said under the Charter, the plenary power of one-third of all House members to send an impeachment complaint directly to the Senate can be exercised at anytime during the impeachment process.

That was what happened in the case of Estrada, he stressed.

When the complaint against the ousted president was filed last year, only three congressmen initially endorsed it. They were Heherson Alvarez, who is now secretary of environment and natural resources; Michael Defensor, who is housing secretary; and Ernesto Herrera.

The three were also complainants, along with several private citizens.

A few weeks after the filing of the complaint, the list of endorsers swelled to more than 100. This was when the group of then Speaker Manuel Villar Jr., who is now a senator, decided to sign the resolution of endorsement.

On Nov. 13, 2000, Villar made history when he speedily transmitted the impeachment complaint against Estrada to the Senate. Minutes after his heroic act, Villar was removed as speaker by pro-Estrada solons who then comprised the majority.