Voting of 39-9 with one abstention, the committee, chaired by Iloilo Rep. Niel Tupas Jr., found probable cause on the first impeachment complaint filed by former Akbayan party-list Rep. Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel for the Office of the Ombudsman’s low conviction rates, her failure to file criminal and civil charges against those involved in the $329-million NBN-ZTE deal during the term of former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, and the inaction on the murder of Philippine Navy Ensign Phillip Andrew Pestaño.

In the second case – the R728-million fertilizer fund scam, R11.3-billion Mega-Pacific poll automation deal, and the controversy on the so-called “Euro-generals – the committee also found probable cause to impeach Gutierrez with a vote of 39-6 with one abstention.

The complaints about the lavish dinners of former President Arroyo at Le Cirque in New York, Baraquel’s arrest during the International Women’s Day protest, and the non-disclosure of the Statement of Assets and Liabilities by presidential son, Rep. Mikey Arroyo, were not included in the list of complaints that will be submitted to the plenary.

The six complaints will be consolidated into one by the 11-man House prosecution panel that will be formed.

Minority Leader Edcel Lagman abstained from voting, saying “no sufficient time has been accorded” to them to assess the voluminous documents regarding complaints as well as the Ombudsman’s 43-page reply to the House body.

Tupas said he had already designated seven House members to comprise the 11-man prosecution panel in preparation for the plenary debates set for March 15 to 16. Sitting on the House prosecution panel are Deputy Speakers Erin Tañada and Raul Daza, Ilocos Norte Rep. Rodolfo Fariñas, Cavite Rep. Elpidio Barzaga Jr., Mindoro Oriental Rep. Reynaldo Umali, Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Neri Colmenares, and Akbayan party-list Rep. Kaka Bag-ao. The panel is expected to draft the Articles of Impeachment that will be transmitted to the Senate for Gutierrez’s trial.

He said it is up to Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. to determine the four other members who will sit in the panel.

Tupas said the panel will submit the committee report to the plenary on March 14 and the voting in plenary is set for March 22 or March 23.

Tupas, along with Tañada, expressed confidence that they would muster more than 100 votes to have Gutierrez tried in the Senate.

For the impeachment case to reach the Senate, there should be 94 members of the House of Representatives supporting the complaint.

“We will get the votes. We will get more than 94 votes,” Tupas said.

As the House panel was voting whether there was probable cause to impeach Gutierrez in the two cases, the Supreme Court (SC) dismissed Gutierrez’s motion to reconsider the court’s Feb. 15 decision that allowed Congress to continue with the proceedings to impeach her.

Under the rules, the dismissal of the motion for reconsideration is final since a second motion for reconsideration is a prohibited pleading.

The dismissal announced in a press briefing conducted by Court Administrator and SC Spokesman Atty. Jose Midas P. Marquez, in effect, validated yesterday proceedings before the House committee that voted there was probable cause to continue with the impeachment of Gutierrez.

Seven justices, led by Justice Conchita Carpio Morales who wrote the Feb. 15 decision, voted to deny Gutierrez’s motion for reconsideration. Five justices voted to grant the motion, two justices voted to partially grant the motion, while one justice inhibited himself.

Aside from Justice Morales, those who voted to deny the motion were Justices Antonio T. Carpio, Antonio Eduardo B. Nachura, Martin S. Villarama Jr., Roberto A. Abad, Jose Catral Mendoza, and Ma. Lourdes P.A. Sereno.

Those who voted to grant the motion were Chief Justice Renato C. Corona and Justices Teresita Leonardo de Castro, Arturo D. Brion, Diosdado M. Peralta, and Lucas P. Bersamin.

Justices Mariano C. Del Castillo and Jose Portugal Perez voted to partially grant the motion, while Justice Presbitero J. Velasco Jr. inhibited himself.

In a 75-page motion, Gutierrez told the SC that the court committed an error in ruling that the two impeachment complaints filed against her do not violate Section 3 (5), Article XI of the Constitution.

Tañada, who welcomed the Supreme Court’s ruling, said they expect that the minority would “put up their defenses.”

Members of the minority bloc of the House of Representatives attempted to bloc the voting, with Lagman arguing that “the critical imperatives of due process must not be sacrificed to imprudent haste.”

Davao del Sur Rep. Marc Douglas Cagas warned that if the voting continues, the committee would commit “grave abuse of discretion.”

“Let this infamous or famous day be a constant reminder to all of us, who are all politicians, that today we have committed our own mistakes, even grave abuse of discretion and constitutional violation because of the frailties of haste and of political partisanship,” Cagas said.

During the hearing, Iloilo Rep. Augusto Boboy Syjuco asked Tupas to inhibit himself “out of delicadeza,” which was rejected by the latter since the Supreme Court, in its February 15, 2011 ruling, did not bar the committee chairman to perform his constitutional duty to head the proceedings.

“In the spirit of delicadeza, I urge you to resign from your position as far this matter is concerned,” said Syjuco, Tupas’s godfather.

On March 1, the House Committee on Justice found sufficient grounds on two complaints against Gutierrez that prompted the continued marathon hearings on the impeachment cases.

Reacting to the Supreme Court decision denying her motion for reconsideration, Gutierrez said she respects the tribunal's decision.

“Whatever the SC decides I will follow,” said Gutierrez after the High Court reaffirmed its earlier ruling denying her petition to declare the impeachment proceedings unconstitutional.

Nonetheless, Gutierrez said she believes in the integrity and impartiality of the members of the Senate where her case will be tried and judged in an impeachment trial.

“Unlike in the House judiciary committee, I expect to get fair and just treatment from senators," she said.

Charisa Luci, Manila Bulletin