The 2nd Impeachment

MANILA -- Businessman Jose de Venecia III, a star witness in the National Broadband Network deal and his civil society supporters, will troop to the House of Representatives Monday morning in a second attempt to file the fourth impeachment complaint in the last four years against President Macapagal-Arroyo.

De Venecia III, who alleged the bullying by First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo in what he called an overpriced deal, said the filing of the impeachment complaint could be like a scene in the popular reality TV series, Amazing Race.

De Venecia III expressed his concerns to the Philippine Daily Inquirer about the possibility of another group "friendly to the Palace'' sneaking in a "weak'' impeachment complaint ahead of their 97-page grievance suit, which accused the President of betrayal of public trust, culpable violations of the Constitution and the law, and criminal responsibility for the extrajudicial killings and disappearances under her military program, "Oplan Bantay Laya.''

De Venecia's group had planned to file their complaint last Saturday but there was no one at the Batasang Pambansa complex to accept the document because House Secretary General Marilyn Yap had flown to Switzerland, while her officer-in-charge was due to start work only on Monday.

"It's going to be as exciting as ‘Amazing Race.’ We have to be the first to file in the House to avoid any technicality. We have to be there before Congress opens at 9 am (Monday, Oct. 13). We cannot allow anyone to get ahead of us with a weak complaint and give the President another year of breathing room,'' said De Venecia referring to the failed impeachment complaints filed by Oliver Lozano and Roel Pulido that were generally viewed as deliberately crafted to fail.

Laywer Harry Roque, one of the complainants, said that it would be "super bad faith'' if Congress would allow an inferior complaint just to frustrate their plan.

But House oversight committee chair Danilo Suarez, a member of the President’s party, Kampi or Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino (Partner of the Free Filipino), dismissed the impeachment as an "exercise in futility'' and an unnecessary distraction at a time when the government was coping with the global financial turmoil.

"There is no rational to take up this political exercise that will only divide us and force investors to put on hold their plans. They know that it is doomed to fail. It's just a question of time. There is no strong motive for members to go for impeachment,'' said Suarez in an interview.

An impeachment complaint needs 74 votes out of the 240-member House. Suarez said there were less than 30 members in the minority and he expected some of them to abstain.

But Roque said his group was unfazed saying that anything could still happen "with the political leadership'' of the House.

De Venecia III said that his group's complaint was "the genuine article'' and that they were bent on having it taken up by the House committee on justice. He added that they already got the backing of party list groups such as Bayan Muna, Gabriela, and Anak Pawis.

"I hope that the House leadership would play fair this time and act on our complaint. Rejecting this complaint on the basis of a mere technicality will be a slur on the people who want the complaint to be judged on its merit,'' said De Venecia III.

Among the cases included in the impeachment complaint was the overpriced North Luzon Railways (Northrail). Although De Venecia III knew that this was endorsed by his father, Pangasinan Rep. Jose De Venecia Jr., he said he agreed to have it included in the name of truth and justice.

"I don't know my dad's participation in Northrail and I don't know whatever he is alleged of here. This is our chance to know it,'' said De Venecia III.

Roque said that by including Northrail, the complainants were showing that they were sparing "no one'' in their quest for truth.

The complainants include Editha Burgos, mother of missing activist Jonas Burgos; Erlinda Cadapan, mother of missing UP student Sherlyn Cadapan; and Concepcion Empeno, mother of UP student Karen Empeno. This explains why nearly half of the impeachment complaint was devoted to details of extrajudicial killings and the disappearance of political activists under the President's term.

Aside from the NBN-ZTE deal, Northrail and extrajudicial killings, the complaint also sought to make the President account for the sale of the country's gold reserve in Mt. Diwalwal to the ZTE Corp.; the "Hello Garci'' scandal in the 2004 elections; the P700-million fertilizer scam; the P5-billion Quedancor swine loans for the 2004 elections; and the distribution of bribe money to lawmakers and local government officials in Malacañang.