Impeach complaint filed today

Various people’s organizations, joined by opposition congressmen, are scheduled to file with the House of Representatives today a joint impeachment complaint against President Estrada.

Isabela Rep. Heherson Alvarez told reporters yesterday that the complaint will accuse the President of graft and corruption, bribery, culpable violation of the Constitution, and betrayal of public trust.

He said the impeachment petition will be based on the revelation of former presidential friend Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis "Chavit" Singson that the Chief Executive received more than P400 million in jueteng money.

He said Singson’s affidavits detailing the money trail and the circumstances surrounding the receipt of the money will be attached to the complaint.

He added that Singson will not be among the complainants, although he would be among the principal witnesses in the impeachment process.

Alvarez, who is Lakas secretary general, wants to stand as a complainant although many of his opposition colleagues are dissuading him from doing that to avoid giving the petition a political color.

They want him to be among the endorsers of the petition. Among those who will endorse the complaint are House Deputy Minority Leader Sergio Apostol and former senator and now Rep. Ernesto Herrera (Lakas, Bohol).

The moderate Trade Union Congress of the Philippines, of which Herrera is secretary general, and the left-leaning Kilusang Mayo Uno, two of the country’s biggest labor federations, will be among the complainants.

Speaker Manuel Villar Jr., who has 10 days under the Constitution to refer any ouster petition to the committee on justice, said he would promptly do his job as soon as he receives the complaint.

Asked what he would do if there is Malacañang pressure to stop him from sending the complaint to the justice committee, Villar said firmly: "I’ll do my constitutional duty."

He said he does not expect the voting in the committee to be along party lines.

"Kanya-kanyang opinion iyan, kanya-kanyang konsiyensiya (Members of the committee will have their own opinions, their own consciences)," he said.

Alvarez said an affidavit of former Chairman Perfecto Yasay Jr. of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) accusing President Estrada of protecting his friend Dante Tan in the BW stock manipulation scandal will also be attached to the impeachment petition.

"Jun Yasay will be another principal witness," he said.

The former SEC head had claimed Mr. Estrada phoned him several times to tell him to go slow on the BW inquiry and to clear his friend Tan in the stock fraud case.

Herrera said aside from the impeachment complaint, people’s organizations would also charge the President next week with plunder, a crime punishable by death.

He said the criminal complaint will be filed with the Office of the Ombudsman.

He said this particular charge will be based on Singson’s claim that the President received P130 million of the P200 million released by the government for tobacco farmers in Ilocos Sur.

Herrera added that the people’s organizations plan to follow up their impeachment complaint with a nationwide strike next week.

The 51-member House justice committee is chaired by Rep. Pacifico Fajardo (LAMP, Nueva Ecija). Of the committee members, 10 are from the opposition.

Fajardo’s being non-lawyer has prompted some congressmen to suggest that he be replaced by a lawyer-member or that he give way to a lawyer-vice chairman to handle the impeachment proceedings.

His vice chairmen are Deputy Majority Leader Neptali Gonzalez II of Mandaluyong City, who has been very vocal in criticizing Singson for his accusations against the President, and Rep. Oscar Rodriguez of Pampanga, a former Marcos regime detainee and human rights lawyer.

Under House rules, the panel has 60 session days from receipt of referral to submit a report to the chamber.

A vote of majority of all its members is required to approve a report. The House needs a vote of one-third of its 218 members to approve such report and the accompanying articles of impeachment which are then sent to the Senate.

The Senate will need a two-thirds vote to remove the President.

In view of the possibility that an impeachment case against Mr. Estrada could reach the Senate, Rep. Gerardo Espina (Lakas, Biliran) urged senators yesterday to stop their inquiry into Singson’s revelations.

He said the Senate should give way to the impeachment hearings to be conducted by the House justice committee.

Espina said it is possible that by doing their own inquiry, senators would have formed their own judgment and bias on the charges leveled against the President.

In such a case, any impeachment trial to be conducted by the Senate would already be tainted as senators would have prejudged the case, he added.