Impeachment Voted Down
Voting 173-32 and with one abstention, the House of Representatives trashed on 24 August the second impeachment complaint in two years against President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. The vote upheld the House Committee on Justice’s Report No. 1886 which declared the impeachment complaint insufficient in substance. Justice Committee Chairman Simeon Datumanong says the complaint failed to satisfy the required “recital of facts constituting the offense charged.”
A YES vote means agreeing with the report that the complaint lacked substance and should be dismissed. Conversely, a NO vote means that the committee report has been rejected and that the complainants should be allowed to present their evidence. Congressmen who “Failed to Vote” were either absent or opted to be out of the session hall during the voting.
Compared to last year’s vote of 158-51, with 6 abstentions and 21 absences, this year 7 congressmen changed their votes to YES from NO last year. They are Reps. Teodoro Locsin Jr. (Makati City-1st district), Proceso Alcala (Quezon-2nd district), Rodante Marcoleta (Party-list Alagad), Jacinto Paras (Negros Oriental-1st district), Antonino Roman (Bataan-1st district), Arthur Pingoy Jr. (South Cotabato-2nd district), and Hans Christian Señeres (Party-list BUHAY).
Out of 232 congressmen, 26 failed to vote because of their absence in the plenary. Six of them failed to vote again similar to last year: Reps. Carlos Cojuangco (Negros Occidental-4th district), Juan Ponce Enrile Jr. (Cagayan-1st district), Carlos Imperial (Albay-2nd district), Luis Asistio (Caloocan City-2nd district), Oscar Malapitan (Caloocan City-1st district), and Antonio Serapio (Valenzuela City-2nd district). Thirteen of them voted NO last year; 6 voted YES; and 1 abstained.
Among the 173 who voted YES this year, 44 are on their third and last terms; 70 are second-termers; and 59 are first-termers.
Administration congressmen blamed the opposition members for not pushing for an amendment to the impeachment rules to allow presentation of evidence. Since the opposition weren’t given a chance to show evidence within the Constitutional process, in the final analysis, the purported evidence against the president for violating the Constitution and committing corruption will remain a hidden bomb that could hurt the nation in days to come.
The congressmen’s votes were as follows: (Click here to view/download)
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