Impeachment proceedings vs SC justices hit a snag

The impeachment complaint against Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr. and seven associate justices of the Supreme Court hit a snag at the House of Representatives yesterday after congressmen failed to decide whether the complaint was sufficient in form.

Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. cautioned against using the hearings as a "launching pad for a destabilization campaign against the government."

At Malacañang, Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye said the Palace is confident the impeachment complaint against the eight justices would not prosper.

"But we have this Congress," he said. "They have the right to look into this."

Bunye said while Malacañang will not get involved in the impeachment proceedings, the legitimacy of the Arroyo administration has already been settled.

"We are maintaining distance from this controversy," he said. "We think the Supreme Court justices can answer the charges leveled against them."

In his impeachment complaint, deposed President Joseph Estrada accused Davide as well as Associate Justices Artemio Panganiban, Josue Bellosillo, Reynato Puno, Jose Vitug, Leonardo Quisumbing, Antonio Carpio and Renato Corona of culpable violation of the Constitution and high crimes, among other charges.

The complaint did not include perceived pro-Estrada justices — Santiago Kapunan (now retired), Consuelo Ynares-Santiago and Angelina Sandoval-Gutierrez –who were among the 13 justices who voted for the legitimacy of the Arroyo administration.

Estrada said the eight justices conspired to oust him based on Biblical passages read by Panganiban, who admitted this in his book "Reforming the Judiciary."

During the hearing of the impeachment complaint yesterday. 13 members of the House committee on justice, chaired by Eastern Samar Rep. Marcelino Libanan, voted that the complaint was sufficient in form, four others objected to its deficiencies, while two congressmen reserved their votes.

While many voted that the complaint had passed in form — even as the next committee hearing would determine its sufficiency in substance — there is no final tally as a majority of 33 lawmakers must vote to make the decision conclusive.

Of the 64 members of the committee on justice, only 20 were present during the initial hearing, and the remaining 20 votes will be taken by referendum.

Isabela Rep. Gigi Aggabao of the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC), who objected to the impeachment complaint as insufficient in form, however said the process is likely to reach the next level of debates on the substance despite having no final tally.

"It’s just form," Aggabao said. "However, I cannot in conscience vote for it when there are fundamental deficiencies."

The debates on whether the impeachment complaint is sufficient in substance is expected to be heated.

Libanan tentatively scheduled it on Oct. 7.

The debates centered on whether the manifestation of former senator Rene Saguisag, a lawyer for Estrada, to amend the complaint would be accepted.

However, Ilocos Sur Rep. Salacnib Baterina said the names of Vitug and Quisumbing were not in the body of the complaint, which could be confusing as to whether they are respondents or not.

"It is the body that controls the complaint," he said.

Baterina said Saguisag admitted the lapse and filed a pleading requesting to amend the complaint, which is insufficient in form.

He also questioned the propriety of the committee in accepting the amendment, saying an amended complaint should start at square one — filed before the Office of the House Secretary General and referred to the Office of the Speaker.

In questioning the propriety of the voting, Aggabao said the fact that Saguisag wanted the complaint amended meant he knew it was defective.

However, Maguindanao Rep. Didagen Dilangalen, one of three opposition lawmakers who endorsed the complaint, said there are only two requirements for the complaint to be sufficient in form.

"Is the complaint verified?" he asked. "It is. Was it endorsed? It was."

On the other hand, Davao City Rep. Prospero Nograles asked whether the matter of sufficiency in form should be decided by the members present, or the entire committee.

But Dilangalen said there are precedents where a quorum is enough for a committee to decide on questions of sufficiency in form and substance.

De Venecia said the committee’s proceedings will "not degenerate into a forum for poisonous character assassination" against the high court justices.

"The hearings will not be a launching pad for destabilization moves and we would like to assure the Supreme Court justices that this will not degenerate into destructive persecution and poisonous character assassination," he said.

The impeachment complaint was endorsed by Dilangalen, San Juan Rep. Ronaldo Zamora and Iloilo Rep. Rolex Suplico, as required by the House’s impeachment rules. — Paolo Romero, Marichu Villanueva