‘No clear resolution on impeachment’

Former President Fidel Ramos warned President Arroyo yesterday not to be complacent, saying he saw no clear resolution of the impeachment issues hounding her presidency.

While he acknowledged that the majority bloc appears to have won the first round in the impeachment proceedings, Ramos noted that the next arena in the impeachment debates is the plenary session involving all the members of the House of Representatives.

The House committee on justice dismissed Wednesday night the original impeachment complaint filed against Mrs. Arroyo by lawyer Oliver Lozano, hours after ruling that it was the only valid petition the panel should take action on and junking the opposition’s amended complaint along with that of Manila lawyer Jose Lopez.

The battle to oust the President through impeachment now moves to the plenary, with the opposition scrambling to gather the required 79 signatures to send the complaint to the Senate for trial.

"Obviously there was no clear resolution of the impeachment issues considering the (opposition’s) lack of numbers (last Wednesday) and their walkout, also their attempt to get some votes," Ramos told reporters. "But let us not forget that there is still a plenary session that could be the final opportunity of the anti-Gloria opposition."

Impeachment petitioners and endorsers walked out of Tuesday’s hearing and boycotted Wednesday’s proceedings, denouncing what they called the "game plan" of the President’s allies to kill not only their amended petition but all impeachment complaints before Mrs. Arroyo leaves for Saudi Arabia and New York next week.

By next Wednesday, the justice committee plans to submit its report to the plenary session, which could approve it before members of Congress adjourn for an eight-day break next weekend.

The 79 votes can reverse the committee report. In that eventuality, the House, in plenary session, directs the committee to prepare the articles of impeachment which would then be transmitted to the Senate.

But the chamber can stonewall over the transmittal of the complaint to the Senate, according to impeachment petitioners. Members of the majority could frustrate the will of 79 members by avoiding plenary sessions and preventing the chamber from mustering a quorum.

Ramos also said authorities, particularly those in charge of maintaining law and order in the country, must prepare for more street protests, though he discounted the possibility of another EDSA I or II, the military-backed revolts that ousted the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos and Joseph Estrada, respectively.

At this point, Ramos said the compelling factors for a people’s revolution have more to do with the lack of economic growth than the current political turmoil. He added that economic issues urgently require the attention of the government.

Basic issues have been left unattended by Congress, the President, her Cabinet officials and the private sector, he said.

One of these basic issues is international terrorism, according to Ramos, who pointed out that proposed bills to counter terrorist threats have been ignored for the past 10 years. One such measure mandates the implementation of a national ID system, he said.

Ramos added that the rising fuel prices, falling credit ratings, steadily decreasing foreign exchange value of the peso, rising inflation and lack of foreign direct investments are caused by "the non-attractiveness of our economic policy environment."

"The people, while they have been patient in terms of not being too sympathetic to the opposition’s impeachment efforts... (are) not being drawn into the conflict just because of the impeachment issues, but economic issues" need to be addressed by the government, he said.

Ramos said Mrs. Arroyo "has gained some time. However, she must not be complacent due to the fact that what she won, as a concession in time, has also a terminal date."

Militant groups, whose representatives in the House had supported the amended complaint hoping it would lead to Senate trial of Mrs. Arroyo, vowed to resort to street protests — a tactic that failed prior to the impeachment proceedings — if the charges against the President were finally killed. These organizations included Bayan Muna, Anakpawis, Gabriela, and Akbayan.

Other impeachment petitioners plan to contest the decision of the House justice committee in the Supreme Court, where they hope to get a favorable ruling.

According to the Counsels for the Defense of Liberties, a group of lawyers and an impeachment petitioner, the amended complaint is the only valid pleading since it was the only one to be "verified."

It is the only petition that complies with the Constitution and the House impeachment rules, which require that a complainant execute a "verification" affirming his pleading and certifying that they are "true of his own knowledge," the group said in a statement.

It pointed out that the Lozano and Lopez complaints were not verified.