Lozano to send rejected impeachment to more lawmakers

Lawyer Oliver Lozano expressed outrage over the refusal of the Office of the House of Representatives Secretary-General to accept for lack of endorsement from congressmen the new impeachment complaint he filed against President Arroyo and officials of the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

“I will be sending more complaints through the members of Congress, if they (lawmakers) will not endorse the complaint, I will charge them with graft before the Ombudsman,” Lozano told The STAR.

This developed as some congressmen who failed to oust Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. are now threatening to support a new impeachment complaint against the President.

Sorsogon Rep. Jose Solis, who backed Cebu Rep. Pablo Garcia’s unsuccessful bid to replace De Venecia, vowed to carefully evaluate a new impeachment complaint against Mrs. Arroyo if another case is filed.

“We will not initate it, it will not come from us. But if a complaint is filed, we will study it and make a decision based on the merits of the case and not on the basis of party affiliation,” said Solis, a member of the Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino (Kampi).

Lozano said he already sent the new impeachment complaints through registered mail to congressman Garcia and members of the independent bloc in the House.

In his three-page complaint, Lozano said the President as the commander-in-chief failed to prevent killings of candidates that undermined the last elections.

“Such killings are matters of public knowledge or judicial notice that do not require proof,” he said.

Lozano also accused Comelec Chairman Benjamin Abalos, Commissioners Resurreccion Borra, Florentino Tuason Jr., Romeo Brawner, Rene Sarmiento and Nicodemo Ferrer of betrayal of public trust for allegedly failing to stop poll irregularities. – With Jess Diaz