Manila: The lower house of Congress will not suspend former president Gloria Arroyo because she is being tried not for acts done while a congresswoman, but for alleged election fraud in 2007, the house minority leader said.
The Constitution says a congresswoman or a congressman will be suspended by a majority vote on misconduct done in office at Congress, House Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales said in a statement.
"She is being prosecuted for alleged acts she committed before she became a congresswoman and therefore is beyond the jurisdiction of the ethics committee. Hence, any suspension order by the Sandiganbayan (anti-graft court) will not be enforced," said Gonzales.
It was in response to government prosecutors who asked the Sandiganbayan to suspend her because of two charges filed against her.
"The suspension is mandatory," said the prosecutors in a motion filed at the anti graft court.
Arroyo was also charged for allegedly pushing for the $329-million National Broadband Network deal (NBN) to be funded by China's overseas development assistance, and to be implemented by Chinese company Zhongxing Telecommunication Equipment (ZTE), despite allegedly knowing that her husband and a cabinet member used their influence (and demanded money) for the project's approval.
She pleaded not guilty to the two charges.
She was placed under hospital arrest at Quezon City's Veterans Memorial Medical Centre last year.
Arroyo won a seat representing the second district of Pampanga in the May 2010 polls.
