EDITORIAL – Undermining the impeachment process

The public has long suspected that defective impeachment complaints are being filed at the House of Representatives against public officials to inoculate them for a year from genuine complaints that are likely to prosper. Now, for the first time, there could be a chance to prove such suspicions.

Several congressmen are saying that they were offered bribes of up to P2 million if they would endorse an impeachment complaint filed by lawyer Roel Pulido against President Arroyo in connection with the broadband deal between the government and Chinese firm ZTE Corp. Congressmen led by Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. consider the complaint weak and have refused to sponsor it.

Anakpawis party-list Rep. Crispin Beltran says Francis Ver, deputy secretary-general of the President’s party, the Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino or Kampi, approached him last Friday at the House session hall and initially offered him P1 million if he endorsed Pulido’s complaint. Beltran declined the offer. Later, the amount was raised to P2 million, Beltran claimed. Laguna Rep. Dan Fernandez had a similar story, saying Ver offered him P2 million as well as P10 million worth of financing for his pet projects if he endorsed the complaint.

The  stories were told amid the most serious strain yet in relations between the President and De Venecia, whose son and namesake accused resigned Commission on Elections chairman Benjamin Abalos of attempting to bribe him with $10 million if his company would back out of competition for the broadband deal that has now been scrapped. The younger De Venecia also accused the President’s husband of telling him to “back off” from the deal — a story denied by the First Gentleman.

Speaker De Venecia now faces graft charges and a possible ethics investigation in connection with the broadband deal. If he has committed any impropriety to assist his son, then proper sanctions must be imposed after an investigation. The cancellation of the ZTE deal should not mean an end to efforts to determine who committed improprieties or should be held accountable for a scandalous deal. But the accusations against the Speaker should also not stop congressmen from investigating the stories told by Beltran and Fernandez. Ver must be questioned about his motives and the persons behind his alleged attempt to bribe lawmakers. This is a serious accusation that cannot be swept under the rug. Only an honest-to-goodness probe can stop people from undermining the impeachment process.