With Merci's resignation, senators will have no chance to wear judicial robes

Manila, Philippines - With Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez tendering her resignation ahead of her impeachment trial, the senators will not have a chance to wear their judicial robes after all.

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile said the judicial robes will likely end up in the Senate museum.

“At least, the government will be able to save. The Senate, I think, was supposed to spend around P7 million to P15 million if the impeachment trial pushed through,” Enrile said.

He said the senators can use the judicial robes for pictorials but not anymore in trial with the Ombudsman’s resignation.

“We will pay for them, use them for picture-taking and place them in the Senate museum,” the Senate president said.

The judicial robes – costing about P4,000 to P5,000 each – are still undergoing alteration after the suppliers delivered the first batch of 10 robes last week.

Senate deputy secretary Edward Bellen said the robes already made will have to be paid for.

He said the Senate’s expenses have remained at a minimum since the initial P500,000 allocated for the trial has not been released.

“Actually, Senate President Enrile ordered last week the release of P500,000 but still, the amount has not been released. We have not spent so much. Except that the adrenalin rush among the staff was high, because we have been preparing for it,” Bellen said.

Meantime, the photocopies of the records of the articles of impeachment submitted by the members of the prosecution will be kept in the Senate archives.

Bellen said all the preparations have been cancelled following the Ombudsman’s announcement.

Bellen said the secretariat is conducting a review of all the contracts entered into in relation to the impeachment.

“We will study the status reports by Monday,” Bellen said, adding that all procurements that have been delivered cannot be rescinded.

Procurements still pending at the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) may not push through.

Quest for truth

With the latest development, Blue Ribbon committee chairman Sen. Teofisto Guingona III said the resignation of Gutierrez will now pave the way for a speedier quest for truth.

Guingona recalled that the partial Blue Ribbon committee report recommended that Gutierrez resign.

“The Blue Ribbon investigations had shown that she has served as a stumbling block for the public to recover almost one billion pesos involved in the cases of retired Major Gen. Carlos Garcia and Lt. Gen. Jacinto Ligot,” the senator said.

“This should now pave way for a speedier quest for the truth behind the anomalies in the past administration,” he said.

Sen. Loren Legarda, for her part, said the resignation is a fitting act to preserve the integrity of the Office of the Ombudsman.

“After all, the country’s lead anti-graft agency and its officials should be free from controversy in order to effectively carry out their mandated tasks,” Legarda said.