Impeach complaint is bribery-tainted, says JDV

House Speaker Jose de Venecia on Wednesday described the impeachment complaint against President Gloria Arroyo as tainted with explosive charges of bribery as he deferred immediate referral of the case to the appropriate committee with Congress about to go on a three-week recess.

"This is an explosive (bribery) scandal and if I endorse it right away I might be contributing to a scandal," de Venecia said.

Under the Constitution, the Speaker has ten session days within which to refer the impeachment complaint to the appropriate committee for proper disposition.

De Venecia's statement came a day after Anakpawis party-list Rep. Crispin Beltran exposed in plenary a P2-million bribe offered him by a senior official of Kampi, the President's political party, in exchange for his signature endorsing the complaint to impeach the President.

At least six other House members also revealed similar bribe attempts made to them, apparently within the premises of the House of Representatives, in exchange for their endorsement of the four-page impeachment complaint endorsed by Rep. Edgar San Luis of Laguna.

The complaint was filed last Friday by lawyer Roel Pulido, the same person who hastily filed two complaints against de Venecia—one before the House Ethics Committee and another before the Ombudsman using allegations aired at the joint Senate inquiry into the scandal-ridden $329-million broadband project of the national government with the Chinese firm ZTE.

"We are bewing fooled," de Venecia said in a radio interview, adding, "This Pulido should be watched."

De Venecia warned the media and the Filipino to be wary of Pulido's real motivation because of the multiple complaints he filed within a ten-day period.

De Venecia noted that even the impeachment complaint against President Arroyo contained more malicious and unfounded allegations involving the Speaker and his son and namesake.

"The complaint is against the President but its content is 60 percent against me," de Venecia said.

"The media and our people must be vigilant. We cannot afford another crisis that could result in an economic bust," he said.

Earlier Tuesday, Speaker de Venecia ordered the House Committees on Ethics and Good Government to conduct and immediate and thorough investigation of the alleged bribery attempts.

"I have taken this action to protect and ensure the integrity of the institution, and we are sparing no effort to get to the bottom of it," de Venecia said.

"The House investigation should put an end to speculations surrounding the incident," he said.

De Venecia cautioned media persons to be more discerning.

De Venecia reiterated his stand on the national broadband issue that he wanted the project to be undertaken as a build-operate-transfer (BOT) project that will not involve any government loan, risk and guaranty.