Raps vs Ombudsman sent to House body

MANILA, Philippines - Speaker Prospero Nograles said yesterday he has sent the impeachment complaint against Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez to the House rules committee.

He said the rules committee would meet on April 14 to include the case in the chamber’s calendar of business so it can be referred to the committee on justice.

The committee on justice has 60 session days to conduct hearings and submit its report on the complaint, he said.

Before congressmen adjourned their session for their month-long Lenten break on Thursday, Nograles said he would try to transmit Gutierrez’s case to the justice committee to get the impeachment process moving.

Under House rules, he has 10 session days to do that.

Cavite Rep. Elpidio Barzaga Jr. has inhibited himself from the proceedings on the impeachment complaint since three cases filed against him when he was still mayor of Dasmariñas are still pending with the Ombudsman’s office.

Other congressmen with cases in or being investigated by Gutierrez’s office have been asked to stay away from the impeachment process.

Only recently, at least four House members have been summoned by the respondent’s agency to answer charges arising from the P728-million fertilizer scam.

For the sake of transparency, impeachment petitioners are asking Gutierrez to come out with a list of House members and their relatives under investigation by or with pending cases in her office.

Former Senate president Jovito Salonga and 30 other prominent citizens, including former members of President Arroyo’s Cabinet, filed the case against Gutierrez last Monday.

They have accused the Ombudsman of “gross incompetence, betrayal of public trust and culpable violation of the Constitution” for sitting on or weakening big cases of graft and corruption.

These include those against former justice secretary Hernando Perez, officials of the Commission on Elections involved in the botched Mega Pacific deal, and private contractors and bureaucrats whom the World Bank claimed were part of a cartel rigging contracts for road projects.

They said the Ombudsman’s office “has become synonymous to inaction, mishandling or downright dismissal of clear cases of graft and corruption, some leading to the President herself or her closest associates.”

They added that Gutierrez’s agency has become “the coddler of the powerful and corrupt” under her watch.

Quezon City Rep. Matias Defensor, justice committee chairman, said even if his panel received the complaint against Gutierrez before the Lenten break, he doubts whether he can schedule hearings during the recess.

He said the impeachment rules give his committee 60 “session days” to hear a case and submit its report to the House.

“Since the rules refer to session days, I don’t think we can hold hearings during the break. Even if we hold hearings, those may not be counted as part of our 60-session-day deadline,” he told The STAR.

He said his committee and its proceedings might be questioned if it schedules hearings during the break.

He added that most likely, hearings would be scheduled shortly after the resumption of session on April 12.

So far, six House members have endorsed the complaint against Gutierrez. 

3 justices to defend Gutierrez

Gutierrez is now preparing to fight the impeachment complaint against her, with two former Supreme Court (SC) Justices and a former Sandiganbayan justice as her lawyers.

Information gathered by The STAR revealed that she met with Jose Vitug, Serafin Cuevas, and Harriet Demetriou before leaving for Singapore Thursday.

In a press conference last Tuesday, Gutierrez bared that Vitug, Cuevas, and Demetriou are among those who support her and are willing to defend her from those who want her ousted from her post.

She also revealed her plans to file perjury charges against those who filed the complaint, including Salonga and former Bukidnon congressman Nereus Acosta.

Assistant Ombudsman Mark Jalandoni said Gutierrez is in Singapore to testify as a witness in an international arbitration case.

“Tuloy pa rin ang trabaho dito. Work never stops,” he told The STAR.

Jalandoni said Gutierrez will be back in the country today and will report for work on Monday. – With Michael Punongbayan