The 2nd Impeachment

MANILA, Philippines—The President’s allies in the House of Representatives Tuesday threw out the impeachment complaint against Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez.

Gutierrez and her allies celebrated the dismissal of the impeachment complaint in a restaurant in Quezon City.

Critics, however, said the decision boded ill for the impeachment process because the majority cited a controversial ground for the dismissal—the sub judice rule or the prohibition against publicly discussing the merits of a case still pending in court.
“If we say that an official can’t be impeached because of a pending court case, what will happen to the impeachment process? The impeachment complaint is the only accountable mechanism we have,” said Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Neri Colmenares.

Minority outraged

The members of the minority, who backed the impeachment, were also outraged that their votes were not even counted. Justice Committee chair Matias Defensor declared the complaint dismissed after 38 committee members raised their hands to signify that they wanted the complaint thrown out. Those in favor of the impeachment move were no longer asked to vote.

Defensor later told reporters that only 28 votes were needed to junk the complaint.

The dismissal of the complaint was met by applause from employees of the Office of the Ombudsman, according to Assistant Ombudsman Mark Jalandoni.

In a statement, Assistant Ombudsman Jose T. de Jesus, hailed Defensor “for being fair and having political will” to call for a vote despite objections from the pro-impeachment side. He said the decision would allow everyone to “focus on the more important issues besetting our country.”

Overriding the committee

The report of the Justice Committee is expected to be taken up next in the House plenary. A vote from one-third of the plenary could override the committee’s findings.

Eight representatives stood up Tuesday to defend the Ombudsman: Antique Rep. Exequiel Javier, Baguio Rep. Mauricio Domogan, Iloilo Rep. Raul Gonzalez Jr., Zamboanga del Sur Rep. Antonio Cerilles, Isabela Rep. Giorgidi Aggabao, Cebu Rep. Pablo John Garcia, Abakada Guro party list Rep. Jonathan dela Cruz and 1-Utak party list Rep. Vigor Mendoza.

They argued, citing different cases, that the allegations of betrayal of public trust and culpable violation of the Constitution against Gutierrez were not backed by facts. They also argued that the cases could not be voted on by the House because that would violate the sub judice rule since related cases were still pending in the Supreme Court.