House Prepares Impeachment Trial Of Comelec Chief Andy Bautista
The chairman
of the House committee on justice vowed Sunday, August 27, to act swiftly on
the impeachment complaint against Commission on Elections Chairman Andres
Bautista.
“The
complaint was transmitted to Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez. It means that there is
verification and [an] endorser. We are ready to tackle it. The committee is
just waiting for it,” said Oriental Mindoro Representative Reynaldo Umali,
chairman of the panel.
“Within
that 10-day period, if the complaint gets 98 endorsers [or more], it will go
straight to the Senate. That’s the prerogative of the House Speaker,” he added.
Bautista’s
wife, Patricia Paz, who accused her husband of amassing close to P1 billion in
undeclared wealth, can still be summoned because spousal privilege is only
applicable in criminal cases, not during an impeachment, Umali said.
“This is a
novel issue that has to be considered,” he said.
The
impeachment complaint against Bautista was filed by former Negros Oriental
lawmaker Jacinto Paras and lawyer Ferdinand Topacio.
They
accused him of betrayal of public trust over his failure to address the hacking
of the Comelec website in March 2015 and for failing to properly disclose all
his assets in his statement of assets, liabilities and net worth.
They also
said Bautista admitted that he had received referral fees from Comelec’s
technology provider Smartmatic through the Divina Law Office, and was guilty of
obstructing justice when he played down script changes in the transparency server
during the 2016 elections.
The
complaint was endorsed by Deputy Speaker and Cebu Representative Gwen Garcia
and Kabayan Representative Harry Roque.
On Sunday,
Comelec Commissioner Rowena Guanzon told radio dzBB that she advised Bautista
to take care of his family and go on leave.
“I told
him, you’re not getting any sleep. You focus on your family then explain where
all that money came from. That’s all I told him,” she said in Filipino.
Guanzon and
other commissioners on Thursday urged Bautista to take a leave or resign,
saying he could no longer adequately fulfill his duties as Comelec chairman.
“If you
have personal problems, you should take a leave. Because it’s unfair to the public
and unfair to the government if you can no longer function yet stay in your
post and not do the work,” she continued.
On
Wednesday, Bautista missed a congressional budget hearing at the House because
he took his four children to meet with guidance counselors.
Guanzon
said their advice for Bautista to go on leave or quit was not personal.
“It’s not
like he’s down and we’re kicking him,” she said. “This isn’t personal. It’s for
the Comelec and for the country.”
Bautista’s
estranged wife had accused him of accumulating unexplained wealth amounting to
almost P1 billion.
Source: Manila Standard
House Prepares Impeachment Trial Of Comelec Chief Andy Bautista
Reviewed by Yen
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August 30, 2017
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