The Philippine Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez was impeached by the House of Representatives on charges of the office's alleged underperformance and failure to act on several cases during the presidency of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. She became the second official after President Joseph Estrada in 2000 to be impeached.
While the first impeachment complaint against her was filed in 2009, it was dismissed later in that year in a 14th Congress dominated by Arroyo's Lakas Kampi CMD party. In 2010, with the election of Benigno Aquino III of the Liberal Party as president and the concurrent elections to the House of Representatives and the subsequent political realignment, two impeachment cases against her were voted as sufficient in form, substance and grounds, and the House of Representatives Committee on Justice had found probable cause on alleged betrayal of public trust as based on the two complaints.
On March 22, 2011, the House of Representatives voted to impeach Gutierrez, sending the committee report as the Articles of Impeachment to the Senate, which would have acted as an impeachment court. A vote of at least two-thirds (16) of all senators (24) was required to convict Gutierrez and remove her from office. Gutierrez, however, resigned on April 29, 2011, thereby canceling the impeachment trial in the Senate.
Background
Step VotesneededTotalmembersApproval by the Committee on Justice* Sufficient in form Sufficient in substance Sufficient in grounds Determination of probable cause 28 55Approval by the House of Representatives 95 284Conviction by the Senate 16 24*While only a majority of the regular members (28) is needed to pass a vote, the votes of the ex officio members such as the Deputy Speakers are counted. The ombudsman is one of the several impeachable officials: the others being the president, vice president, justices of the Supreme Court and the members of the constitutional commissions (Audit, Civil Service and Elections). The following acts are considered as impeachable offenses: culpable violation of the Constitution, treason, bribery, graft and corruption, other high crimes, and betrayal of public trust. Furthermore, only one "impeachment proceeding" is allowed to be held against an official in a year, although the definition of the term "impeachment proceeding" and "year" have been debated. The House of Representatives has the sole power to impeach, while the Senate has the sole power to try the impeached official. The House of Representatives needs one-third of its members to impeach an official, while the Senate needs to muster two-thirds of its members to convict.
2009 case In 2005, Merceditas Gutierrez was appointed by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo as ombudsman, succeeding outgoing Simeon Marcelo who had resigned. After her appointment, several figures of the Arroyo administration were involved in political scandals such as the NBN-ZTE controversy, the Fertilizer Fund scam, the Euro Generals scandal, among others.
In 2009, a group of civil society personalities led by former Senate President Jovito Salonga filed an impeachment case against Gutierrez on March 2. The complaint, referred to the Committee on Justice headed by Arroyo's partymate at Lakas Kampi CMD Matias Defensor, Jr. of Quezon City, cited these issues: Deliberate and inordinate action in the World Bank road project worth US$33 million Deliberately ignoring the Supreme Court's ruling dismissing the deal between Mega Pacific Corporation and then Commission on Elections chairman Benjamin Abalos worth PHP1.3 billion Filing late and defective information that undermined the cases against former Justice Secretary Hernando Perez, who was charged with extorting money from former Manila Rep. Mark Jimenez Gross inexcusable inaction on the cases filed by the Senate, former solicitor general Francisco Chavez and murdered journalist Marlene Garcia-Esperat on the Fertilizer Fund scam worth PHP1 billion; Failing to promptly resolve the Euro Generals scandal case despite evidence and admission by the Philippine National Police comptroller, Director Eliseo de la Paz Committing grave abuse in dismissing and suspending local government officials, specifically Iloilo Governor Niel Tupas, Sr. and Bataan Governor Enrique Garcia.
On November 18, the House Committee on Justice dismissed the case; while deeming the complaint "sufficient in form," it was deemed as not "sufficient in substance." The committee report stated that "The factual allegations are, at best, a rehash of the allegations for the impeachable offense of betrayal of public trust," and that the suspensions of Tupas and Garcia were justifiable. The report was brought to the plenary on November 18.
2010 cases In 2010, two impeachment cases were filed against Gutierrez, both by left-leaning parties: first from Akbayan Citizens' Action Party and one from the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN; New Patriotic Alliance). These two complaints were referred to the Committee on Justice which is now chaired by Iloilo's 5th district representative Niel Tupas, Jr. of President Aquino's Liberal Party at August 22.
While Akbayan and BAYAN are both left-leaning parties, they are ideological rivals.
Complaints
Akbayan complaint In July 2010, former Akbayan representative Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel led the filing of an impeachment complaint against Gutierrez. The complaint cited these issues: Low conviction rate of the ombudsman Failure to act promptly on the Philippine National Broadband Network controversy Incurred inexcusable delay in the investigation on the death of ensign Philip Pestaño Legitimized the arrest of Hontiveros by the police at the height of the Hello Garci scandal Failure to investigate Arroyo's PHP1 million dinner at New York's Le Cirque restaurant Failure to act on the Mega Pacific scandal, among others Refusal to grant ready access to public records such as the Statement of Assets, Net Worth and Liabilities of former Pampanga Rep. Mikey Arroyo.
BAYAN complaint BAYAN filed their own case on early August 2010. Led by Renato Reyes, BAYAN cited these issues on their complaint: Failure to act on the Fertilizer Fund scam Failure to act on the Euro Generals scandal Failure to act on the Mega Pacific scandal
Sufficient in form and substance The House of Representatives' Committee on Justice voted on September 1, 2010, that the two complaints are sufficient in form. With the result, further hearings would be held to determine if the two complaints are sufficient in substance.
A week later, the committee voted that the two complaints are sufficient in substance: the first complaint passed via a 41–14 vote, while the second complaint passed with a 41–16 vote, with Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP; Force of the Filipino Masses)'s Rufus Rodriguez of Cagayan de Oro's 2nd district abstaining as he refused to recognize the second complaint. The committee vote was the first time an impeachment complaint was deemed to be sufficient in substance since the Arroyo presidency. The minority bloc tried to delay the vote by objecting the approval of the minutes, and denying that they were supplied with copies of the complaints, even if their staff had earlier stated that they had received them. Lakas Kampi CMD's Simeon Datumanong of Maguindanao's 2nd district insisted that the second complaint be barred; Majority leader Neptali Gonzales II of Mandaluyong answered that while the constitution forbids two impeachment proceedings, it does not forbid two impeachment complaints, adding that the two complaints can be consolidated for they were simultaneously referred to the committee.
On the same day, Iloilo 4th district Representative Ferjenel Biron and former Iloilo vice governor Rolex Suplico of the Nacionalista Party disclosed that Tupas had a pending case on the ombudsman, and that he should recuse himself from the proceedings. Suplico filed a complaint against Tupas on the latter's alleged "ghost seminars" while he was still a member of the Iloilo Provincial Board. Tupas defeated Suplico in the 2010 Iloilo 5th district House of Representatives election, while Biron defeated Tupas' father in the 2010 Iloilo 4th district House of Representatives election.
Supreme Court's status quo ante order +How the justices votedJustice Granting LiftingReconsiderationCorona Concurred Dissented Dissented Carpio Dissented Concurred ConcurredCarpio-Morales Dissented Concurred ConcurredMendoza On leave Concurred Concurred Abad Concurred Concurred ConcurredSereno Dissented Concurred ConcurredNachura On leave Concurred ConcurredVillarama Concurred Concurred ConcurredBrion On leave Dissented DissentedBersamin Concurred Dissented DissentedDe Castro On leave Dissented DissentedPeralta Concurred Dissented DissentedDel Castillo Concurred Concurred partially Concurred partiallyPerez Concurred Concurred partially Concurred partiallyVelasco Concurred Recused RecusedConcurrence8 7 7Dissention3 5 5 On September 13, Gutierrez filed a petition for certiorari and prohibition to the Supreme Court to stop the impeachment proceedings against her. Gutierrez cited the one-year ban hearing more than one impeachment proceedings. Tupas said that in a previous decision, the Supreme Court allowed two separate complaints initiated at the same time. The next day, the court granted Gutierrez a status quo ante order, or all parties should observe the conditions prior to the proceedings, thereby suspending impeachment proceedings against her.
The representatives protested the status quo ante order, with Akbayan representative Walden Bello saying that "it is an interference with the prerogative of a co-equal branch of government," adding that only Congress can "promulgate" its own rules on impeachment. Speaker of the House of Representatives Feliciano Belmonte (Liberal, Quezon City–4th) had earlier said that while it respects the court's decision, the House of Representatives will proceed with its impeachment proceedings. The move was seen to benefit Gutierrez, and former president and now Pampanga 2nd district representative Arroyo;
Five months later on February 15, 2011, the Supreme Court dismissed their status quo ante order, "thereby effectively allowing the House committee on justice to proceed with the impeachment," said court spokesman Midas Marquez. There were seven justices concurring, five dissenting, and another two concurring on allowing the first of the complaints from proceeding; Justice Presbitero Velasco recused himself as his son is a member of the House of Representatives (representing Marinduque as member of the Lakas-Kampi). Marquez said that while there were two separate complaints, "there is only one proceeding." The court ruled that since Gutierrez can still file an answer, hence there was no violation of due process.
However, further hearings were held off as the Supreme Court as not given a final decision on Gutierrez's petition. Speaker Belmonte said that the committee cannot meet until the court's decision is finalized. Meanwhile, the executive announced that it would not interfere with the proceedings at the House of Representatives. On February 22, the committee voted to resume their impeachment hearings in a 21–5 vote, after a meeting with Belmonte, who became convinced that the committee can proceed even without the court's final decision, as stated by Deputy Speaker Lorenzo Taňada III of the Liberal Party from Quezon's 4th district.
Supreme Court Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno later disclosed that the Supreme Court did not debate on the merits on Gutierrez's petition, saying that "several members of the court" had not seen the petition, and that no resolution was made; spokesman Marquez just delivered a news conference to announce the court's ruling. Sereno is the sole appointee of President Aquino; the other 14 justices are appointed by Arroyo.
Sufficient grounds