 |
|||||||||
|
|||||||||
 |
|||||||||
 |
|||||||||
|
A TALE OF TWO IMPEACHMENTS Privilege Speech of Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, August 31, 2005  Posted: August 6th, 2008 @ 12:45am Availing himself of the privilege hour, Senator Ejercito Estrada (J) spoke on the effort of the Arroyo administration to influence the outcome of the impeachment proceedings against the President. The full text of his speech follows: Today, I rise on a matter of personal and collective privilege to express the growing concern of many of our people over the use of the resources and vast powers of government to influence the outcome of the present impeachment proceedings. There is now a growing number of persistent reports, some unverified yet disturbing, of the pattern of mobilizing government funds to manipulate the sacred and independent process of impeachment enshrined in our Constitution. I deeply regret that, as a public official and as a citizen, I can no longer idly sit back to patiently listen and tolerate disturbing accounts of machinations, manipulations and maneuvers in the impeachment process. While I express deep respect and confidence in the integrity of our colleagues in the Lower Chamber, I take this opportunity to challenge Mrs. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to respect and honor the independence of our established democratic institutions and their processes. It would do well for her, perhaps, to be reminded of the impeachment proceedings made against President Joseph Ejercito Estrada. There are important lessons in honor and integrity that Mrs. Arroyo can learn here, for here lies a tale of two impeachment processes that can be instructive in protecting, preserving and defending the integrity of our democratic system. To my knowledge, President Estrada did not approach any member of Congress to influence their votes. No effort to interfere or pressure members of Congress on their votes was made. Instead, he allowed them to decide freely and independently. This was confirmed by our colleague, Senator Joker Arroyo, and a member of Congress and of the panel of prosecutors at that time, in one of his interviews. If I may recall, he mentioned that President Estrada did not approach any member of Congress to kill the impeachment complaint against him. President Estrada respected the process even if his allies in Congress at that time claimed that the articles of impeachment was defective and must be recalled. In fact, the impeachment proceeding was railroaded at the House of Representatives. Yet, President Estrada made no maneuvers to stop its consideration. But in between, and even when the impeachment trial was underway, no stories of systematic and verified misuse of government monies, of intelligence or social funds, of any public resources by President Estrada was reported in the media to influence the outcome of that proceeding. In marked contrast today, in the current impeachment proceedings, stories abound, almost unrelenting and unabated, that public funds, as well as the vast powers and facilities of government are being used to undermine the integrity of the proceedings. This is reinforced by the revelation yesterday of former DSWD Secretary Dinky Soliman that she heard no less than Mrs. Gloria Arroyo herself instructing her political adviser to make representations with a member of Congress to endorse the weak and defective Lozano impeachment complaint. The recent allegations on the use of the road users’ tax and the expos6 of our respected colleague, Senator Joker Arroyo, on the resignation of the chair of the Subic Bay ‘Metropolitan Authority, continue to inflict irreplacable damage on the credibility of the impeachment proceedings. The claim of a party-list representative, Eulogio “Amang” Magsaysay of the Alliance of Volunteer Educators, that amounts ranging from P500,OOO to P5 million are being dangled to members of Congress to influence their votes, represents another disturbing horror story that cannot simply be dismissed. (Audio-visual Presentafion) While Representative Magsaysay has withdrawn his signature in endorsing the impeachment complaint, he as not retracted the allegation to this day. There are more of these stories going around, circulating and passed on in whispers, in the nooks and crannies of the bureaucracy. I shall not dignify these because they remain to be unverified and demand concrete evidence. But even so, they disturb our sensibilities. They create anxieties and apprehensions on a public already wearied and alienated by unending accounts of graft and corruption, of misfeasance and mismanagement. President Estrada did not resort to bribing, intimidating, harassing or even kidnapping witnesses in his trial. But today, we hear accounts of witnesses, both potential and those who bad already given their statements, as either missing, threatened or retracting their testimonies. Again, in contrast, the investigations in the Estrada impeachment trial proceeded smoothly started with the hearings in the Blue Ribbon Committee which was then headed by our distinguished opposition stalwart, Sen. Aquilino ‘Nene” Pimentel Jr. No reports of bribery, intimidation or kidnapping of witnesses were heard especially during the Estrada impeachment trial. Perhaps, the only disruption then was the walkout of prosecutors because of the second envelope which was not opened. I am told that my father’s legal counsels objected to the opening of this envelope, which pertains to the ownership of a bank account at the Equitable-PCI Bank. The reason for this objection was that this was not included in the subject of the original complaints in the articles of impeachment. When this envelope was not opened, the prosecutors took political advantage of this and eventually walked out. But as we all know, this envelope was subsequently opened by Senator Pimentel in full view of foreign and local media, of other senators such as the late Senator Rene Cayetano and the public at large. It revealed that the alleged account attributed to President Estrada was really owned by Jaime Dichaves as against the claims of the prosecution panel. (Audio-visual Presentation) And in their subsequent testimonies before the Sandiganbayan, the Executive Vice President of Equitable-PCI Bank, Mr. Romualdo Dy-Tang, and the Vice President for Accounts, Ms. Beatrice Bagsit, testified that the account belonged to Jaime Dichaves. They also pointed out that they did not honor the signature of President Estrada because he did not own the account. Senator Pimentel also testified at the Sandiganbayan to confirm that he opened the second envelope and found that the account belonged to Jaime Dichaves. In the subsequent rallies and protests by the people against President Estrada, the rights and freedom to peaceful assembly guaranteed them under the Constitution was respected. Today, however, peaceful protests and demonstrations in the streets against the government are met with violent dispersals with the use of truncheons and tear gas, with the iron hand of the State, as if there are no more guarantees of freedoms operating in this country. Kanina lamang po, sa Kongreso, napanood ko po sa telebisyon pinagpapalo na naman ng ating kapulisan ang mga grupo na sumusuporta para sa impeachment ni Gng. Pangulo. Ganyan na ba kalala ang sitwasyon natin sa kasalukuyan? Kamay na bakal, karuhasan, pananakot at mga panggigipit ang sugat ng rehimeng Arroyo sa mga makaturungan at mga mapayapang mga protesta laban sa kanya This, if we may recall, had been the subject ’of a privilege speech I delivered before this august Body exactly a year ago. Nothing has changed, nothing has been done, and instead, police and military establishments are now being used as personal agents of Mrs. Arroyo in her intensified campaign to suppress and repress responsible dissent just to stay in power. President Estrada was therefore convicted unconstitutionally in the streets and not according to the provisions of the Constitution and the rule of law. He was not convicted in the aborted impeachment trial and did not and never resign, which is why he was offered not once but twice by then Justice Secretary Hemando Perez to submit his resignation in exchange for being allowed to ‘leave the country free of any charges. President Estrada refused this and instead faced the music and opted to be detained to clear his name within the framework of the law. Mrs. Arroyo must now be reminded of this. She must now face the music, uphold the rule of law and not resort to clever machinations to avoid trial. She asked for her day in court and this is what we will give her, unlike what was denied to President Joseph Estrada. If we will recall, Supreme Court Chief Justice Hilario Davide went to EDSA to swear Mrs. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo as Acting President, I repeat, only as Acting President. (Audio-visual Presentation) I wish to remind that the video footages there,*were not spliced, He knew fully well that my father has not resigned and that there was no vacancy in Malacañang. Thus, former Justice of the Supreme Court and Chairman of the 1986 Constitutional Commission Cecilia Munoz Palma prompted to say, and I quote: “There was one blow, a tragic one, which the 1987 Constitution suffered. This happened when the ongoing impeachment trial of President Joseph Estrada was unceremoniously disrupted and discontinued and the issues on band were brought to the parliament of the streets. The rule of law was set aside and the rule of force prevailed.” Even members of the foreign media decried the event. Philip Bowring of the International Herald Tribune said: “However, far from being a victory for democracy that is being claimed by leaders of Jaime Cardinal Sin, the evolution of events has been a defeat for due process.” Time Magazine said People Power II was swift justice indeed - as in a lynching. It repudiated the very essence of due process enshrined in the Constitution. Seth Mydans of the New York Times News Service said “This time it appears people power was not used to restore democracy but momentarily to supplant it.” We do not want this to happen again today. We want the Constitution to prevail. We want the rule of law upheld in a society already impoverished by personal ambitions and selfish interests. We want the will of the people to rule and reign supreme over privileged and misguided use of power. We want truth and justice to be the hallmark and foundation of a country, whose moral fabric is being eroded by poverty, corruption and the reign of greed. The walkout yesterday by members of the opposition in the House of Representatives during the impeachment hearing amid accusations of technical maneuvers, apparently orchestrated by Malacañang, is a sad commentary on the state of the integrity of our political institutions. Today, I implore and ask Mrs. Arroyo not to further erode this moral fiber; I ask her to respect our institutions; I ask her not to use government funds and resources just to avoid trial; I ask her not to fool the people; I ask her not to sow further disinformation and intrigues as this country has now become bitterly divided and I ask her not to use the police and military establishments to suppress legitimate dissent or to harass witnesses and critics. Our economy continues today to suffer from one downgrade to another. Travel advisories by other countries to their nationals against the Philippines have become common. We are now in danger of becoming an outcast, a pariah, in the community of nations. Our people are suffering with each passing day and their alienation, frustration and miseries are marked in the wretched struggles they live to survive. Many have gone to other lands where they can find jobs, opportunities, and most of all, true justice, equality, empowerment and honor. Meanwhile, so much are being spent on paid advertisements and other media propaganda which could be diverted to the needs of our people. Finally, I ask Mrs. Arroyo to allow our institutions and its officials to freely and independently do their jobs, in accordance with “the dictates of their conscience. And we assure her, in any event, she will enjoy and will be entitled-to a free, independent and fair trial, not like President Estrada. |
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||
Copyright © 2008 Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada
Processing Time: 0.03201 seconds.