STAGE SET FOR GUTIERREZ IMPEACHMENT TRIAL / SENATE READIES TRIAL RULES
MANILA, MARCH 24, 2011 (MANILA TIMES) BY EFREN L. DANAO SENIOR REPORTER - PHOTO FROM ABS-CBN.
THE stage is set for the impeachment trial of Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez after the Senate on Wednesday formally received the six Articles of Impeachment from the House of Representatives and adopted its rules of procedure on impeachment trials.
A delegation from the House led by Deputy Speaker Lorenzo Tanada 3rd and Rep. Niel Tupas Jr. of Iloilo hand-carried the Articles of Impeachment to the Senate secretariat.
Former party-list Rep. Risa Hontiveros Baraquel, a complainant in the impeachment case, was also present.
The delegation later paid a courtesy call on Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile.
Enrile said that the Senate would convene itself into an impeachment court on May 9 and then send Gutierrez a copy of the Articles of Impeachment.
Under the rules adopted by the Senate, she has up to 10 days from receipt of the Articles of Impeachment to file her answer.
After that, the prosecutors will have five days to reply.
Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto 3rd said that with this time given to Gutierrez and the prosecutors, the impeachment trial could start by May 25.
A key provision of the rules adopted by the Senate calls for the hearing of all six Articles of Impeachment before voting could take place.
This put to rest an earlier proposal to vote immediately after the termination of the hearing of an Article of Impeachment.
Had this proposal been adopted, the impeachment trial could be shortened because once a two-thirds vote for an Article of Impeachment is reached, there will be no more need to hear the rest.
A vote of two-thirds of the Senate, or 16, is needed to convict.
Fewer votes mean acquittal.
No motion for reconsideration of the vote will be entertained.
Attendance optional Enrile said that Gutierrez would not go on leave during the impeachment trial because she was holding a constitutional office.
He added that she would not be required to attend the trial.
"It is her right to appear or not to appear. There is no arraignment system here," Enrile said.
Sen. Joker Arroyo agreed.
A member of the House prosecution panel at the impeachment trial of then President Joseph "Erap" Estrada, he pointed out that Estrada never attended the trial.
"That right given to Erap should also be given to the Ombudsman," Sen. Arroyo said.
Enrile reiterated his pronouncement that the Senate would give Gutierrez a fair hearing.
At the same time, he gave notice that he would cite in contempt any prosecutor or defense counsel who would walk out of the hearing.
Enrile said that there would be no repetition of the incident during the Estrada impeachment trial where the private prosecutors walked out.
That walkout came after the Senate voted against opening a second envelope that allegedly contained evidence on a Jose Pidal bank account.
The uproar caused by the rejection culminated in Edsa 2, a popular uprising that led to the ouster of Estrada.
The Senate also adopted its own sub-judice rule that prevents senators from making any comments and disclosures in public pertaining to the merits of the impeachment trial.
They are also prohibited from giving interviews while the trial is going on.
Prosecution will be handled by a panel from the House, assisted by private counsel.
Impeachment hearings will held in the afternoons of Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays starting at 2 p.m. Sotto said that there was no decision yet if the trial could be conducted after the adjournment of the First Regular Session.
Malacanang also on Wednesday supported live coverage of the impeachment trial of Gutierrez.
"Given the amount of public interest and the following of the issues, [it would be good to have live coverage like what impeachment proceedings at the House of Representatives had]," deputy spokesman Abigail Valte said.
On reports that President Benigno Aquino 3rd allegedly offered an additional P20 million in "pork barrel" to lawmakers who would vote to impeach Gutierrez, Valte commented, "It's absolutely not true."
"These kinds of things normally defy the bounds of logic," she said.
"[We all know the] budgetary constraints [of the government]."
Valte added that those who said that President Aquino offered the additional P20 million "obviously did not do [their] math."
Lawamakers on Tuesday voted 212-46 to impeach Gutierrez.
On a statement of the Ombudsman that the outcome of the voting at the House of Representatives was a product of "dark politics," Valte said that the voting was done "in the broad view of the public."
Those who voted for removing Gutierrez were "tsunamied" into doing so, especially with the sweetener dangled before them, the Ombudsman's lawyer—Salvador Panelo—said also on Wednesday. WITH REPORTS FROM CRIS G. ODRONIA, JOHN CONSTANTINE G. CORDON AND LLANESCA T. PANTI
Senate readies trial rules MANILA TIMES MARCH 21, 2011 BY SAMMY MARTIN, TIMES REPORTER
[PHOTO - Merceditas Gutierrez during Tuesday's press conference. PHOTO BY RUY MARTINEZ]
SENATE President Juan Ponce Enrile on Tuesday said that they would polish the rules that they would use during the trial of Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez after she was impeached by the House of Representatives.
"We are obliged to finish the rules before we go on recess," Enrile told Senate reporters during a chance interview as he assured the public that the chamber was prepared to act as judges during the impeachment trial.
He said that they needed to exert additional effort as their legislative work would be severely affected because they need to allot the whole afternoon from Monday to Thursday to the trial.
Enrile added that they might even have to devote Friday to the trial.
He said that they cannot hold the trial during Saturdays, Sundays and holidays.
The legislative agenda will be tackled in the morning, which also will calendar sessions and committee hearings.
"We might amend some provisions of the Rules [of Impeachment] that were earlier used in the impeachment trial of then President Elpidio Quirino and then President Joseph Estrada or just adopt in toto the existing rules. I cannot speak in behalf of my colleagues if they want to introduce amendments. It is their call and we always exercise independence in the Senate," Enrile pointed out.
The Senate president, who will act as the presiding judge, warned congressmen to restrain themselves from walking out which they did during the impeachment trial of Estrada for he will be forced to cite them for contempt.
Congressmen will act as government prosecutors in the impeachment trial.
"I will not hesitate to cite them for contempt," Enrile said. The congressmen are obliged to select among their ranks who e the lead prosecutor during the trial would be and who the support staff would be.
The Rules of Impeachment are needed before the trial starts to serve as the senators' guide throughout the process.
The House of Representatives will be given copies of the rules agreed upon by the members of the Senate Committee on Rules headed by Senate Majority Floor Leader Vicente Sotto 3rd.
It voted to impeach Gutierrez on Tuesday morning in a vote of 212-46, with four abstentions. In a privileged speech, Sotto said that Senate Resolution 432 adopting the rules of procedure on the impeachment trial is a modified version of Resolution 6 of the Eleventh Congress.
"These [rules] are products of a series of meetings and consultations of this representation with officials of the Senate Secretariat who had a hand in the drafting of Resolution 6. We have also taken into consideration older Rules of Impeachment crafted by this august chamber in the supposed impeachment trial of then President Elpidio Quirino in 1949, but nonetheless did not transpire," he added.
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