House defers to Monday vote on Tangcangco impeach rap

The House of Representatives decided last night to defer for Monday the vote on the impeachment complaint against Commissioner Luzviminda Tangcangco of the Commission on Elections.

The chamber made the decision after congressmen pushing for Tangcangco’s ouster questioned the quorum that has dwindled from 144 members to about 80, prompting the presiding officer, Deputy Speaker Emilio Espinosa, to adjourn the session.

It was the same problem on attendance that House leaders encountered on Tuesday night, when the Tangcangco case was first scheduled for a vote.

Before the night’s adjournment, several congressmen expressed their misgivings on the report of the committee on justice recommending the dismissal of the impeachment complaint for lack of substance.

Rep. Antonino Roman of Bataan said the report is just a narration of the views expressed by committee members in its hearings and contains nothing that supports its finding that the complaints lacks substance.

"I have read this report three times, and I found no basis for the committee conclusion," he said.

Rep. Rolando Andaya Jr. of Camarines Sur said the report, aside from containing the divergent views of committee members on the impeachment complaint, only states the results of the voting in the committee level.

There is no discussion on why the panel found the petition to be lacking in substance, he said.

"We are supposed to vote blindly on this complaint using only our conscience and not any of the other senses given to us by God, not even our head," he said sarcastically. — Jess Diaz