“Better to deal with the devil we know than the devil we don’t.”
When impeachment complainant Rep. Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel (Akbayan Party-list) spoke at a forum in late August, she described the impeachment case against President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as a tale of a death foretold, in reference to the work of famous novelist Gabriel Garcia Marquez. In a marathon session in Congress which lasted almost 24 hours from 5 to 6 September, life imitated art as the public witnessed the death and burial of the impeachment complaint. The impeachment complaint was the victim of one of the most organized political efforts we have seen to pass a measure in Congress in years.
Though not expected to be introduced on the plenary floor on a Monday (5 September), talk was rife that the House Justice Committee Report to throw out the impeachment complaints would hit the floor and the Majority would push for a vote well before President Arroyo was due to leave for New York on 12 September to address the United Nations General Assembly. But on Monday morning, a quick check with the House Secretariat indicated that the Committee Report was not on the agenda for the day nor had the Committee Report been printed. However, by 2:40 p.m. – just a little less than an hour-and-a-half before the session was to open at 4:00 p.m. – a resolution was filed in the Secretary-General’s office to introduce the report. By 3:00 p.m., photocopying machines in the Bills and Index Section of the House Secretariat began to hum with activity with what looked like the printing of the Committee Report.
When the plenary session opened at 4:00 p.m., the report was not released yet and the House proceeded with its regular “privilege hour” session scheduled for Mondays. After a recess, the report suddenly appeared in circulation by around 5:30 p.m. bearing signatures of the Majority signifying the approval of the report. It was later disclosed in the plenary that the report had not been circulated to the Minority nor had a meeting been called to discuss the report. Normally, reports or bills have to be in circulation at least three days in the House before a vote is taken. Though unable to explain their own timeline, Majority Representative and Committee Vice-Chairman Edcel Lagman argued that discussions accepted in principle in committee hearings need not be subject to a review of the report by the committee prior to its release on the floor. Naturally, Lagman was able to produce the minutes of the meeting quoting himself seeking the approval of the agreements of the committee “in principle”. Previously sticklers for timelines, the Majority suddenly seemed not to quibble over the timeline of this report’s release. The die was cast.
