Three former officials Thursday filed an impeachment case against Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez before the House of Representatives for alleged betrayal of public trust and violation of the Constutition. Former Akbayan Representative Risa Hontiveros, former Brig. General Danny Lim and Felipe Pestano filed the complaint for allegedly failing to act on cases filed against former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, her husband Jose Miguel Arroyo and other officials involved in the controversial broadband case. It also accused the Ombudsman of making inexcusable delay in the investigation on the death of ensign Philip Pestano, a case in which the United Nations criticized her for not making any inquiry. The other charge are: • Issuing a decision that upheld the legality of the arrest and involuntary detention of Hontiveros by the police at the height of the ‘Hello Garci' controversy. • Failing to investigate the P1-million dinner for the presidential party at the Le Cirque restaurant in New York. • Not taking prompt action on various cases involving Arroyo such as the Mega-Pacific scam, among others. • Refusal to grant ready access to public records such as the Statement of Assets, Net Worth and Liabilities of former Pampanga Rep. Juan Miguel Arroyo. The complainants said the Office of the Ombudsman “has become a place where complaints of official wrongdoing go to languish, wither, and forgotten.” Hontiveros reiterated her call for Gutierrez's resignation. “She should no longer wait for the impeachment complaint and for her term expires in October,” the former lawmaker said. “She should resign and step out of the way so that the fight against corruption will proceed,” she said. Akbayan Representatives Kaka Bag-Ao and Walden Bello have filed a resolution endorsing the impeachment complaint. “Based on our assessment, the impeachment complaint is sufficient in form and contains sufficient recital of facts constituting the acts of betrayal of public trust and culpable violation of the Constitution committed by Ombudsman Gutierrez hence sufficient in substance,” they said in the resolution. Hontiveros said she will personally campaign to get the required one-third vote of the House, or 96 signatures of congressmen, to send the impeachment complaint to the Senate for trial. Her fellow Akbayan representatives are now gathering the 96 signatures, Hontiveros said. She expressed hopes that the new majority at the House led by allies of President Benigno Aquino III will see the merit of their complaint. Last year, the House – which was then dominated by allies of former president Arroyo – dismissed Hontiveros' first impeachment complaint against Gutierrez. Speaking in a public affairs program on ANC Television earlier, Hontiveros said Gutierrez deserves to be ousted not because she is close to Arroyo but because she failed to safeguard the interests of the Filipino people. The former lawmaker said Gutierrez either sat on or blocked cases involving the Arroyos while failing to win lawsuits against government officials accused of abuse and corruption. The Sandiganbayan anti-graft court earlier cited that the Office of the Ombudsman lost nearly nine out of every 10 cases it filed from January to April this year. It said the Ombudsman scored only eight convictions in 62 cases disposed by the Sandiganbayan during the same period, for a conviction rate of only 12.9 percent. “If impeachment or removal of office by other means is the fate of Ombudsman Gutierrez, let it be a lesson to other persons aspiring for that office to do the job required of them in the Constitution,” she said.
