By MARK JOSEPH UBALDE, InterAksyon.com
EMBATTLED but still looking composed, Ombudsman Merceditas Guetierrez on Tuesday defended herself following the overwhelming vote at the House of Representatives to impeach her.
She lamented that her almost 40 years in public service would only end in attacks that were baseless.
“Nakakalungkot, sa paglilingkod mo sa gobyerno…Nagtatrabaho ko nang husto…tapos may kaso ng ganitong suspetsa na wala namang basis. Nakakalungkot, buti pa di na lang pumasok sa gobyerno (It’s saddening…I’ve been working so hard and then there are these baseless allegations. May be it could have been better if I did not work in government.),” Gutierrez said at Tuesday’s press conference in her office in Quezon City.
Gutierrez also denied that she was the Office of the Ombudsman’s “gatekeeper.”
“If there is a need for me to inhibit I will do it…Di lang ako ang nag-aaral ng cases…Di lang ako ang nagdedesisyon…It’s not true na gatekeeper ako (If there is a need for me to inhibit I will do it….I’m not the only one who studies the cases…I’m not the only one who decides…It’s not true that I’m the gatekeeper.),” she said.
Despite the attacks, Gutierrez will continue working. “There is no law that requires me to go on leave…I will still continue to discharge my duty,” she said, adding that she had slept well despite the House’s decision.
She said she had watched the impeachment proceedings but “not all.”
“My lawyers watched from beginning to end…My friends just texted me (on the developments of the proceedings),” said Gutierrez.
The Ombudsman remains optimistic that she will not be convicted in the Senate. “It is my belief that it (articles of impeachment) will not prosper.”
Gutierrez believes that some lawmakers pushed for her impeachment so that they can get off the hook with their cases at the Ombudsman’s office.
She likewise claimed that some House members moved against her so they could “shine” politically and increase their chances of getting reelected in the May 2013 midterm elections.
Historic impeachment
Voting 212-46, with four abstentions early Tuesday morning, the House will now send the articles of impeachment against Gutierrez, accused of betrayal of public trust, to the Senate for trial.
Gutierrez is the first Ombudsman to be impeached. Her trial in the Senate will be only the second, following that of former President Joseph Estrada, which was aborted when his allies voted not to open an envelope that purportedly contained evidence against him, thus sparking the popular uprising that ousted him in January 2001.
But this is not the first attempt to impeach Gutierrez. The first one was defeated at the committee level last year in the 14th Congress, which was dominated by allies of then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who appointed her to the post in 2005. Gutierrez’s term is supposed to end December of next year.
Ironically, many see Gutierrez’s impending trial as also that of Arroyo, now the representative of Pampanga’s second district. Arroyo, her sons, Diosadado and Juan Miguel, and brother-in-law Ignacio Arroyo voted against the Ombudsman’s impeachment.
But Gutierrez, during Tuesday’s press briefing, dismissed rumors that the former president had talked to her during the voting.
“Alam ko ang ginawa lang nila ay kung ano ang tama (I know they only did what was right),” said Gutierrez.
Among the charges raised against Gutierrez are her alleged inaction on the P728-million fertilizer fund scam, in which government funds were allegedly funneled into Arroyo’s presidential campaign in 2004; and the botched national broadband network deal with China’s ZTE Corp., to which the former president, her husband Jose Miguel, and close political allies were linked.
The rest of the six allegations contained in the articles of impeachment are:
- Gutierrez’ alleged inaction on the election automation deal between the Commission on Elections and MegaPacific Corp., which the Supreme Court nullified for being anomalous;
- Her alleged inaction on the case of the “euro generals,” a party of police generals who were discovered to have brought millions of pesos worth of euros with them to a conference in Russia, after one of them was caught with the cash at the Moscow airport;
- The allegedly inexcusable delay of Gutierrez’ office in investigating the death of Navy Ensign Philip Pestaño, who allegedly committed suicide onboard his ship but who is believed to have been murdered after stumbling onto anomalies by his superiors; and
- The allegedly dismal performance of the Office of the Ombudsman as shown by its low conviction rate.
The ball is now with the 23 senators who will sit as judges. The votes of at least 16 senators, or two-thirds of the Upper Chamber, are needed to convict the Ombudsman.
Handling the prosecution of Gutierrez will be a team led by Tupas with Samar Rep. Raul Daza, Ilocos Norte Rep. Rodolfo Fariñas and Oriental Mindoro Representative Reynaldo Umali as vice chairman. Also in the team are Deputy Speaker Lorenzo Tañada III, representative from Quezon, and party-list Representatives Nero Colmenares of Bayan Muna and Arlene Bag-ao of Akbayan.