The justice committee of the House of Representative on Wednesday junked an impeachment complaint against Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo after declaring it insufficient in substance.
After a marathon hearing on the impeachment complaint, the House justice committee voted 42-8, rejecting the latest impeachment complaint against Arroyo, who had survived three impeachment bids since she came to power in 2001.
The latest complaint detailed allegations of bribery, graft and corruption, betrayal of public trust, and violation of the Constitution. The presidential palace had denied all the charges.
The committee will report its decision to the plenary for either adoption or rejection. The opposition needs the support of at least one third of the House members to revive the complaint.
The vice-chairman of the House Justice committee Edcel Lagman said the new impeachment complaint filed against Arroyo is based on "rehashed and recycled" materials.
House Speaker Prospero C. Nograles said the entire impeachment proceedings was done in an open and transparent manner until it was finally proven to have failed the constitutional test of sufficiency in substance.
Opposition congressmen, however, insisted that they were able to establish that the new impeachment complaint is sufficient in substance.
The forth impeachment complaint against Arroyo was filed and endorsed by opposition congressmen led by the President's former ally Jose de Venecia Jr., the former House Speaker who was ousted by pro-administration congressmen earlier this year.
The relation of De Venecia family and Arroyo family turns sour during the investigation of a telecommunication scandal that started last year and snowballed into one of the serious scandals involving the Arroyo family in recent years.
Impeachment charges have been filed against the chief executive of the country every year in the Congress lower chamber since 2005.
(Xinhua News Agency November 26, 2008)
