Impeach bid ties GMA to jueteng

‘Serial filing’ called a media gimmick

BY WENDELL VIGILIA

THE 25-page impeachment complaint filed by anti-Arroyo groups Monday directly accuses the President of receiving P1 million jueteng payola each from five Luzon provinces.

The complaint said Arroyo in 2001 "restored and allowed the proliferation of jueteng nationwide, and appointed law enforcement officials who acted as conduits in the payment to her of jueteng payola."

"Respondent received monthly jueteng payola amounting to at least one million pesos per region through her spouse/Congressman-son/brother-in-law. The Respondent used jueteng proceeds to bankroll her 2004 presidential campaign, to finance massive electoral fraud, and to bribe government officials," it said.

This accusation was based on the revelations in the Senate investigation last year where presidential spouse Mike Arroyo, his son Lakas Rep. Mikey Arroyo and presidential brother-in-law Rep. Ignacio Arroyo (Kampi, Negros Occidental) were accused of receiving the pay-offs.

Jueteng operates in only five regions in Luzon, from Ilocos province down to Bicol region.
Harry Roque, a lawyer from the University of the Philippines, said the senators who investigated the jueteng scandal last year would provide the evidence and witnesses to support this allegation, particularly the committee on public order chaired by Sen. Manuel Villar.

"The Senate is the one in charge of that. We only crafted the complaint. There is a division of labor among us," he said.

Former Vice President Teofisto Guingona and the Counsels for the Defense of Liberties (Codal) led 16 more complainants in filing an identical impeachment complaint yesterday with the office of House secretary general Roberto Nazareno.

Guingona’s complaint was based on the findings of the Citizens Congress for Truth and Accountability (CCTA) or People’s Court that Arroyo is guilty of electoral fraud, human rights violation and graft and corruption and recommended that she step down to face the charges.

It said it found "strong" basis to conclude that the victory of Arroyo and Vice President Noli de Castro in the Cebu, Pampanga, Iloilo and Bohol was the result of manufactured and tampered election returns.

It also found Arroyo liable for the use of an estimated P7.6 billion in public funds for election-related government programs in the months prior to the election, the largest of which is the P728 million allocated for the Ginintuang Masagana program of the Department of Agriculture which ballooned into the "fertilizer fund scam."

At least two more impeachment complaints will be filed this week while a third will be filed when Congress resumes sessions on July 24. The Akbayan party-list group is expected to file theirs tomorrow.

Codal spokesman Neri Colmenares said the series of filings aims at fighting the possible technicality which could be raised by the administration in light of the one-year ban on filing of an impeachment complaint.

The first impeachment proceeding was initiated on July 25, 2005.

It was referred by Speaker Jose de Venecia to the committee on justice but lawyer Oliver Lozano filed his own on June 26, the reason the complainants filed the new one last Monday.
The question on when the consummation of the "filing" of the complaint remains the bone of contention, Colmenares said.

Arroyo’s allies in the House said the "serial" filing of the complaints is nothing but a media gimmick.

Majority leader Prospero Nograles said the private complainants cannot claim that they are not engaging in partisan politics since their move "is in collusion with the politicians in the House opposed to the Arroyo administration."

Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino (Kampi) Representatives Anthony Miranda (Isabela), Victor Sumulong (Antipolo) and Corazon Malanyaon (Davao Oriental) vowed to thwart the new complaint and to charge those who would "defame" the House.

Presidential adviser for political affairs Gabriel Claudio branded as redundant the impeachment complaint filed by Guingona.

Claudio said Guingona’s impeachment complaint is an exercise in superfluity.

Sen. Ralph Recto said he believes that the second impeachment bid would not prosper.

"I could even speculate that I don’t believe the opposition could have the same number of votes they had last year. I expect lower," Recto said.

The pro-impeachment group needs 79 signatures to send the impeachment complaint to the Senate for trial. Last year, only 51 congressmen signed the first complaint.

Recto said the sentiment in Batangas and Metro Manila is that the opposition is not up to task in unseating the Arroyo.

"Parang rehash na yun (complaint) sa kanila. Sa paningin ko, sa pakikipag-usap ko sa kanila ay parang hayaan na at tapusin ni GMA ang term niya," he said.

Recto said even if the impeachment resolution reaches the Senate, time may not be on the side of the pro-impeachment bloc.

He said the trial could drag until the 2007 mid-term elections. – With Jocelyn Montemayor and Dennis Gadil