House thumbs down Bautista impeachment anew
In this Thursday Aug. 10, 2017 photo, Commission on Elections Chairman Andres Bautista, center, greets supporters after hearing mass in Manila, Philippines. AP/Aaron Favila, file
MANILA, Philippines — The House justice committee on Thursday officially approved the decision to dismiss the impeachment complaint against Commission on Elections chairperson Andres Bautista.
Voting 26-2, the House panel reaffirmed the dismissal of the resolution and committee report on the allegations against Bautista initiated by his estranged wife Patricia.
Earlier, 19 solons voted in favor of the move by justice committee vice chairman Rep. Henry Oaminal to declare the case against Bautista insufficient. Only two legislators voted against it.
On Thursday, Rep. Rodolfo Fariñas asked the panel to reconsider the vote after raising that the committee should comply with impeachment rules on majority vote.
The panel on September 20 earlier dismissed the complaint because of what it deemed as defective verification.
Lawyer Ferdinand Topacio and former congressman Jacinto Paras filed the impeachment complaint.
Reps. Harry Roque (Kabayan party-list) and Gwendolyn Garcia (Cebu) endorsed the complaint.
The case was based largely on the allegation of Bautista’s wife, Patricia or Tish, that the Comelec chief had amassed more than P1 billion in illegal assets. Bautista denied all the allegations.
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