Imee: Blame mom for my absence in impeach vote

So soon after Mother’s Day, Ilocos Norte Rep. Imee Marcos blamed her mom — former First Lady Imelda Romualdez Marcos — for her conspicuous absence during last September’s House vote on the opposition’s impeachment complaint against President Arroyo.

Marcos made the revelation on a radio show yesterday, apparently to deflect criticism that she continues to receive for her decision not to show up for a crucial House vote on Sept. 6 when Mrs. Arroyo’s allies, by an overwhelming vote, killed the opposition’s petition and two other complaints.

Rep. Marcos signed the petition and her colleagues in the minority bloc had expected her to vote for the President’s impeachment.

Attempting to explain her absence when her presence mattered most, she told dzMM’s Ted Failon and Korina Sanchez that her mother had asked her not to show up.

She said the former First Lady mentioned to her the various cases she is facing and which were nearing resolution.

She did not explain, however, what the connection was between those cases and her absence during the plenary vote on the impeachment complaint.

The Arroyo administration, through the Presidential Commission on Good Government, has been negotiating a compromise agreement on the alleged wealth of the Marcoses, most of which, the government claims, is ill-gotten. Palace officials have confirmed the negotiations.

Rep. Marcos said she had already paid dearly for her Sept. 6 no-show.

As for her criticism of Minority Leader Francis Escudero, she said, "LQ (lovers’ quarrel) lang ‘yun."

Her absence during last year’s impeachment vote came to the fore again last week when Escudero announced he and some minority members were proposing that those who fail to support the planned new impeachment complaint against Mrs. Arroyo would be asked to leave the minority group.

The eldest daughter of the late President Ferdinand Marcos resented Escudero’s statement, describing it as "bullying."

She said she had already "suffered a lot and paid the price" for her absence during last year’s impeachment vote.

She said she planned to stick it out with the minority group.

Her criticism of Escudero showed cracks in the opposition at a time when it is planning a new impeachment process against Mrs. Arroyo.

Yesterday, the cracks became more evident when Negros Oriental Rep. Jacinto Paras, in a radio interview, called for a reorganization of the minority bloc. None of the minority members reacted to his call.

Paras counts himself with the Escudero group, though he does not always vote with it on burning issues of the day. For instance, on Charter change, he is taking the side of Mrs. Arroyo’s allies.

Asked to comment on the proposal of Paras, Escudero said he hoped none of his minority colleagues "would be used, wittingly or unwittingly, by the administration to divide the opposition and undermine our determined efforts to initiate a new impeachment process against the President."

He said he owes his post to his colleagues and would give it up if he no longer has their trust and confidence.

In a related development, Deputy Minority Leader Rolex Suplico revealed that the President’s supporters who voted to kill last year’s impeachment complaints have received a "bonus" of an additional P35 million in pork barrel funds from the Palace.

He said the bulk of the P35 million "came from the road users’ tax, which is contributed by more than four million car-owning Filipinos in terms of increased annual vehicle registration fees."

"In other words, those of us who own vehicles, including old cars and jeepneys, funded that windfall," he said.

He added that the "impeachment dividend" is proof that Malacañang embarked on a well-funded campaign to kill last year’s impeachment process.