'No order to impeach Gutierrez'

MANILA, Philippines - President Aquino has not given marching orders to lawmakers to impeach Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez, Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. said yesterday.

“I have been repeatedly saying this: We want due process and fairness for everybody and that’s what we’re getting here (in the impeachment hearings),” he said.

“There is no longer due process when we will kill it (impeachment complaints) before it (hearings) starts,” he said.

Belmonte assured the nation that Gutierrez’s rights would be fully protected and that she would be given due process in the impeachment hearings.

“(Mr. Aquino) has been a congressman here for nine years and a senator for three years and I think he will respect the independence of Congress,” he said.

Moves to oust Gutierrez gained headway on Tuesday after the House committee on justice declared the two separate impeachment complaints against her as sufficient in form and substance.

The justice committee, chaired by Iloilo Rep. Niel Tupas, asked Gutierrez to submit a reply to the charges against her within 10 working days from Tuesday.

However, the proceedings are facing credibility problems as Tupas and his father, former Iloilo governor Niel Tupas Sr., were discovered to have pending cases in the Office of the Ombudsman and in the Sandiganbayan.

The committee will hold its next hearing on Sept. 21.