Belmonte: No impeach proceedings vs. Ombudsman until final SC ruling

(Updated 4:42 p.m.) House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. said on Thursday that the lower chamber will wait for the Supreme Court (SC)’s final ruling before resuming the impeachment proceedings against Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez. Belmonte said he will ask Iloilo Rep. Niel Tupas, chairperson of the House committee on justice, to suspend the panel’s hearings on the impeachment complaints until the high court issues the final decision on Gutierrez’s case. “Some people may voice their impatience, but under my watch, we will adhere to the requirements, and one of them is that the other party has a certain period within which to ask a motion for reconsideration," he said at a press briefing on Thursday afternoon. Belmonte made these statements days after Tupas said the House justice panel is planning to resume impeachment proceedings against the Ombudsman next week. On Tuesday, the SC allowed the House justice committee to continue hearing the impeachment complaints against Gutierrez, saying that the Ombudsman was not denied due process because she can file an answer to the charges before the House panel. The Office of the Ombudsman, however, issued a statement immediately after the high court’s vote, expressing Gutierrez’s intention to ask the SC to reconsider its decision. 'Calmness over rashness' Belmonte likewise said it will be “better" not to “rush" the proceedings, although he added that he hopes the Ombudsman is already collecting evidence to debunk the charges against her. “We have already chosen calmness and deliberation over rashness, and we will stick to that," he said. The House Speaker also earlier halted the House justice committee in proceeding with impeachment hearings after the SC issued last September a status quo ante order on the lower chamber on Gutierrez’s case. Belmonte has also assured the Ombudsman that her rights will be “safeguarded" once she faces the House probe. At the same time, Belmonte called on his colleagues to set aside partisan politics in deliberating on the impeachment complaint against Gutierrez. "My own view is that, particularly in the committee hearings, members will appreciate the evidence and make their own vote... Kanya-kanyang call ito eh," Belmonte said. He added that impeaching the Ombudsman is a "serious matter" where party lines should not be drawn. Gutierrez is an appointee and a known family friend of former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. According to Section 3, Article XI of the 1987 Constitution, the impeachment complaint against the Ombudsman will have to get a majority vote of all members of the House justice committee, then a one-third vote of all House members, before it can be transmitted to the Senate for trial. — VVP/RSJ, GMA News