Source: Public Relations and Information Department

OTHER NEWS «

House trashes impeachment
24 August 2006 10:41:11 AM
Writer: Noel Albano/D. Tubianosa, PRID

By a decisive vote of 173-32 with one abstention after an overnight marathon debate, the House of Representatives struck down Thursday the second bid to impeach President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in as many years, and Speaker Jose de Venecia immediately reached out to the opposition “to put negative politics behind us.”

The House vote upheld Committee Report 1886 of the Justice Committee, chaired by Chairman Simeon Datumanong which declared the eighth of the series of impeachment complaints filed against the President as insufficient in substance.

“The House decision saved the nation from a far larger crisis, tension and chaos. Common sense has prevailed in the House. I hope that when the air clears, we can pursue a government of national unity,” de Venecia said as he lauded Datumanong for his brilliance and statesmanship in guiding the impeachment process to its logical conclusion.

With the impeachment over, De Venecia said we can open wider the avenues toward national economic development and pave the way for the needed fundamental political reforms in the country—the shift from the presidential to the unicameral-parliamentary form of government.

“We should not anymore allow the cycle of boom and bust to reign in the nation’s economic life. We owe it to our people. National reformation must start now,” he said.
The nation just witnessed almost seventeen hours of actual voting with often bitter exchanges between allies of Mrs. Arroyo and the opposition spearheads of the impeachment complaint.

Last year, the first bid to remove the President from office was also decisively crushed by the House but the impeachment complaint gathered far few votes than the 51 it gained last year.

“We reach out to the minority to put this episode behind us,” de Venecia said. “There are urgent pieces of legislation to approve such as the supplemental budget, the proposed 2007 national budget, and a resolution to amend the Constitution. The nation must now move on.”

De Venecia presided at the start of the session Wednesday afternoon and stayed throughout the night until the session was adjourned at 9:55 AM.

Many of those who supported the impeachment complaint last year either did not show up or voted to uphold the committee report, before a gallery that was dominated by supporters of the President.

In his sponsorship speech, Datumanong deftly defended the decision taken by the Justice Committee last week. “Although the impeachment complaint passed the initial constitutional requirement of sufficiency in form, it, however, failed to satisfy the required recital of facts constituting the offense charged and determinative of the jurisdiction of the Committee on Justice,” Datumanong said.

A battery of some of the best minds in the House joined Datumanong in the defense of the Justice Committee report, among them Reps. Edcel Lagman, Luis Villafuerte, Antonino Roman and Hussin Amin.

Under Section 4, Rule III of the Rules of Procedure in Impeachment Proceedings of the House of Representatives of the 13th Congress, Datumanong said the requirement of substance “is met if there is a recital of facts constituting the offense charged and determinative of the jurisdiction of the Committee.”

Roman, who earlier quoted some of Datumanong’s procedural references, said that “without a proper recitation of facts, how can the accused, the President, defend herself?”

Lagman said the impeachment complaint was nothing but a “propaganda complexed with prevarication.”

Lagman added: “This year’s impeachment proceedings began with propaganda and ended with propaganda…On the hindsight, the complainants and the minority had no illusions of impeaching the respondent. They did not prepare and execute their impeachment agenda to assure success. They merely malevolently designed to embarrass the respondent and derail her administration. They made a travesty of a constitutional process.”

“What is required are averments of ultimate facts which ensnare the respondent to the commission of the offense charged, not by mere inference, which is a conclusion, but by statements of actual acts of inculpatory participation,” Lagman said.

Stressing that the so-called tyranny of number is not a rule in the impeachment process, Lagman said “the dominance of the political majority is counterbalanced by the requirement that only a minority of one-third of the total membership of the House is needed to transmit a resolution of impeachment to the Senate for trial.”

Accordingly, Lagman added, “more than superiority in numbers, what is needed by the complainants and their endorsers is superiority in substance, a prerequisite which they failed to muster and allege.”

A Muslim leader from Sulu and a former judge, Amin noted that the Justice Committee report is comprehensive and scholarly written where issues were “met head-on and answered in accordance with law, jurisprudence and fair play.

“I strongly recommend that people read the report and not just rely on what the biased minds say about the issue. I believe reading the report will truly enlighten the minds of many,” Amin said.

For academic purposes, Amin said “our students of law, political science and even those students in the other social sciences should read the committee report which even high school students will appreciate for its simplicity in language.”

How they voted
HR No. 1349 – Dismissing the Impeachment Complaint against President Macapagal-Arroyo
(Committee Report No. 1886)

Affirmative votes:
1. Rep. Benjamin Abalos, Jr.
2. Rep. Bienvenido Abante Jr.
3. Rep. Harlin Abayon
4. Rep. Roque Ablan Jr.
5. Rep. Rodolfo Agbayani
6. Rep. Rodolfo Albano III
7. Rep. Proceso Alcala
8. Rep. Felix Alfelor, Jr.
9. Rep. Joel Mayo Almario
10. Rep. Antonio Alvarez
11. Rep. Genaro Rafael Alvarez III
12. Rep. Prospero Amatong
13. Rep. Hussin Amin
14. Rep. Rodolfo Antonino
15. Rep. Trinidad Apostol
16. Rep. Jesus Reynaldo Aquino
17. Rep. Munir Arbison
18. Rep. Ignacio Arroyo
19. Rep. Augusto Baculio
20. Rep. Alipio Badelles
21. Rep. Leovigildo Banaag
22. Rep. Roseller Barinaga
23. Rep. Salacnib Baterina
24. Rep. Claude Bautista
25. Rep. Luis Bersamin
26. Rep. Ferjenel Biron
27. Rep. Anna York Bondoc
28. Rep. Narciso Bravo Jr.
29. Rep. Danton Bueser
30. Rep. Elias Bulut
31. Rep. Belma Cabilao
32. Rep. Douglas Cagas
33. Rep. Roberto Cajes
34. Rep. Carmen Cari
35. Rep. Bobbit Carlos
36. Rep. Tranquilino Carmona
37. Rep. Nanette Castello-Daza
38. Rep. Fredenil Castro
39. Rep. Arthur Celeste
40. Rep. Antonio Cerilles
41. Rep. Edgar Chatto
42. Rep. Leonila Chavez
43. Rep. Erwin Chiongbian
44. Rep. Solomon Chungalao
45. Rep. Eufrocino Codilla Sr.
46. Rep. Mark Cojuangco
47. Rep. Guillermo Cua
48. Rep. Junie Cua
49. Rep. Antonio Cuenco
50. Rep. Rodriguez Dadivas
51. Rep. Samuel Dangwa
52. Rep. Simeon Datumanong
53. Rep. Del de Guzman
54. Rep. Jose de Venecia
55. Rep. Arthur Defensor
56. Rep. Matias Defensor
57. Rep. Raul del Mar
58. Rep. Antonio Diaz
59. Rep. Baisendig Dilangalen
60. Rep. Abdullah Dimaporo
61. Rep. Victor Dominguez
62. Rep. Mauricio Domogan
63. Rep. Jack Duavit
64. Rep. Faysah Dumarpa
65. Rep. Tomas Dumpit
66. Rep. Ramon Durano VI
67. Rep. Consuelo Dy
68. Rep. Faustino Dy
69. Rep. Glenda Ecleo
70. Rep. Eileen Ermita-Buhain
71. Rep. Gerardo Espina Jr.
72. Rep. Amado Espino Jr.
73. Rep. Edgar Espinosa
74. Rep. Emilio Espinosa
75. Rep. Conrado Estrella III
76. Rep. Peter Paul Jed Falcon
77. Rep. Catalino Figueroa
78. Rep. Eduardo Firmalo
79. Rep. Antonio Floirendo
80. Rep. Orlando Fua Jr.
81. Rep. Albert Garcia
82. Rep. Vincent Garcia
83. Rep. Janette Garin
84. Rep. Ernesto Gidaya
85. Rep. Raul Gonzalez Jr.
86. Rep. Oscar Gozos
87. Rep. Eduardo Gullas
88. Rep. Joey Hizon
89. Rep. Gregorio Ipong
90. Rep. Nur Jaafar
91. Rep. Eladio Jala
92. Rep. Cecilia Jaloslos-Carreon
93. Rep. Cesar Jalosjos
94. Rep. Exequiel Javier
95. Rep. Uliran Joaquin
96. Rep. Josefina Joson
97. Rep. Simeon Kintanar
98. Rep. Jose Carlos Lacson
99. Rep. Danilo Lagbas
100. Rep. Edcel Lagman
101. Rep. Marcelino Libanan
102. Rep. Teodoro Locsin
103. Rep. Jaime Lopez
104. Rep. Mikey Macapagal-Arroyo
105. Rep. Benasing Macarambon Jr.
106. Rep. Emilio Macias II
107. Rep. Sunny Rose Madamba
108. Rep. Amang Magsaysay
109. Rep. Ma. Milagros Magsaysay
110. Rep. Corazon Malanyaon
111. Rep. Suharto Mangudadatu
112. Rep. Alfredo Marañon Jr.
113. Rep. Rodante Marcoleta
114. Rep. Roger Mercado
115. Rep. Florencio Miraflores
116. Rep. Anthony Miranda
117. Rep. Abraham Kahlil Mitra
118. Rep. Rafael Nantes
119. Rep. Francis Nepomuceno
120. Rep. Reylina Nicolas
121. Rep. Ernesto Nieva
122. Rep. Prospero Nograles
123. Rep. Arrel Olaño
124. Rep. Ernesto Pablo
125. Rep. Pedro Pancho
126. Rep. Jacinto Paras
127. Rep. Remedios Petilla
128. Rep. Prospero Pichay
129. Rep. Arthur Pingoy Jr.
130. Rep. Monico Puentevella
131. Rep. Herminia Ramiro
132. Rep. Isidoro Real Jr.
133. Rep. Jesus Crispin Remulla
134. Rep. Victoria Reyes
135. Rep. Miles Roces
136. Rep. Isidro Rodriguez
137. Rep. Antonino Roman
138. Rep. Jesus Jurdin Romualdo
139. Rep. Eduardo Roquero
140. Rep. Gerry Salapuddin
141. Rep. Joey Salceda
142. Rep. Federico Sandoval
143. Rep. Rizalina Seachon-Lanete
144. Rep. Hans Christian Señeres
145. Rep. Lorna Silverio
146. Rep. Eric Singson
147. Rep. Jose Solis
148. Rep. Nerissa Corazon Soon-Ruiz
149. Rep. Danilo Suarez
150. Rep. Victor Sumulong
151. Rep. Mary Ann Susano
152. Rep. Wilhelmino Sy-Alvarado
153. Rep. Judy Syjuco
154. Rep. Emmylou Taliño-Santos
155. Rep. Gilbert Teodoro
156. Rep. Herminio Teves
157. Rep. Acmad Tomawis
158. Rep. Generoso Tulagan
159. Rep. Aurelio Umali
160. Rep. Renato Unico Jr.
161. Rep. Edwin Uy
162. Rep. Reynaldo Uy
163. Rep. Edgar Valdez
164. Rep. Florencio Vargas
165. Rep. Rene Velarde
166. Rep. Eduardo Veloso
167. Rep. Luis Villafuerte
168. Rep. Ma. Amelita Villarosa
169. Rep. Eleuterio Violago
170. Rep. Laurence Wacnang
171. Rep. Antonio Yapha
172. Rep. Eduardo Zialcita
173. Rep. Juan Miguel Zubiri

Negative votes:
1. Rep. Henedina Abad
2. Rep. Nereus Acosta
3. Rep. Benjamin Agarao
4. Rep. Mario Aguja
5. Rep. Juan Edgardo Angara
6. Rep. Darlene Antonino-Custodio
7. Rep. Agapito Aquino
8. Rep. Benigno Aquino III
9. Rep. Teddy Casiño
10. Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano
11. Rep. Justin Marc Chipeco
12. Rep. Francis Escudero
13. Rep. Roilo Golez
14. Rep. Teofisto Guingona III
15. Rep. Mujiv Hataman
16. Rep. Ana Theresia Hontiveros-Baraquel
17. Rep. Ruy Elias Lopez
18. Rep. Renato Magtubo
19. Rep. Manuel Mamba
20. Rep. Imee Marcos
21. Rep. Rafael Mariano
22. Rep. Liza Maza
23. Rep. Florencio Noel
24. Rep. Saturnino Ocampo
25. Rep. Rodolfo Plaza
26. Rep. Gilbert Remulla
27. Rep. Etta Rosales
28. Rep. Rolex Suplico
29. Rep. Lorenzo Tañada III
30. Rep. Joel Villanueva
31. Rep. Joel Virador
32. Rep. Ronaldo Zamora

Abstention:
1. Rep. Joseph Santiago