World | Philippines
Petition to impeach Arroyo rejected due to one-year ban
A lawyer filed an impeachment petition against President Gloria Arroyo for alleged betrayal of public trust, but the House of Representatives did not accept it because a one-year ban on complaints against her was still in effect.
- By Barbara Mae Dacanay, Bureau Chief
- Published: 00:05 February 27, 2008
- Philippine President Gloria Arroyo attends a meeting with cabinet officials at the presidential palace in Manila yesterday. Arroyo denied reports that she already knew of anomalies in a telecommunications contract.
- Image Credit: EPA
Manila: A lawyer filed an impeachment petition against President Gloria Arroyo for alleged betrayal of public trust, but the House of Representatives did not accept it because a one-year ban on complaints against her was still in effect.
In his complaint, lawyer Oliver Lozano presented news clippings of Arroyo saying she approved the signing of the $329 million (Dh1.2 billion) contract between China and the Philippine governments for the implementation of a broadband project even though she knew about alleged irregularities in the said deal.
Lozano left the copy of his complaint at the Office of the House Secretary General. The one-year ban was due to his own complaint against Arroyo that was junked by her allies last year.
Ousted House Speaker Jose de Venecia and leftist Congressman Teddy Casino could endorse the complaint because they have been talking about the president's possible impeachment, said Lozano.
The complaint was referred to the legal division of the lower house of Congress.
Meanwhile, Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Sergio Apostol and Presidential Management Staff chief Cerge Remonde said that Arroyo could not be impeached because she herself had aborted the national broadband network project with China's ZTE Corp, after she went to China late last year.
"She did not sign any contract," Apostol said. "The senators have already given statements that showed they could not be impartial judges should the impeachment complaint reaches the upper house of Congress," he added.
Senator Juan Ponce Enrile added, "What is happening at the Senate is that its investigation has turned more like a political trial." Senate probes are for enactment of laws, he explained.
Pro-administration Senators Edgardo Angara and Joker Arroyo called for the ending of the Senate investigation on the government's scrapped project.
On Sunday, Arroyo said no one in her family was involved in government deals. It was in response to a middle official who said at the Senate that her husband Jose Miguel and an ally wanted $100 million payoff from the deal.
Both denied brokering for the ZTE Corp to win the contract, adding that the Chinese government was in charge of choosing a Chinese firm to implement its overseas development assistance.
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