OPPOSITION PRESSES FORWARD ON IMPEACHMENT EFFORT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MANILA 003319 SIPDIS DEPT FOR EAP, EAP/PMBS, INR/EAP E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/19/2015 TAGS: PGOV PINS PINR PREL RP SUBJECT: OPPOSITION PRESSES FORWARD ON IMPEACHMENT EFFORT REF: A. MANILA 3231 ¶B. MANILA 3202 ¶C. MANILA 2993 Classified By: Political Officer Andrew McClearn for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Summary: Opposition lawmakers are putting the finishing touches on an impeachment complaint against President Arroyo and believe that they are close to the needed number of House co-sponsors. Pro-Arroyo contacts still expect lengthy House hearings and a plenary vote before a trial in the Senate. The tug-of-war over possible impeachment will dominate the headlines as the House and Senate resume sessions on July 25. Constitutional rules on the process are surprisingly ambiguous and the case may end up in litigation. The Supreme Court may ultimately have to weigh in, which would inevitably revive suspicions of political partiality. End Summary. -------------- Opposition Formalizing Complaint -------------- ¶2. (C) Opposition lawmakers are putting the finishing touches on an impeachment complaint against President Arroyo that will likely include offenses under all possible Constitutional grounds for impeachment. In a July 18 farewell dinner in Charge's honor, Representative Ronaldo "Ronnie" Zamora, a lawyer and opposition stalwart, said that he will act as the lead impeachment prosecutor for the opposition in the eventual Senate trial and that Minority Leader Francis Escudero would act as overall impeachment manager. Zamora also asserted that he and others were working to amend the prior complaint filed by Oliver Lozano, a private citizen, on June 28 (ref C). He predicted the filing of a comprehensive complaint by the end of this week or at the latest on the morning of July 25. ¶3. (C) Zamora claimed that the opposition is close to having the requisite number of House co-sponsors (at least 79 of the 236-member body) needed to refer the impeachment complaint to the Senate. Zamora confirmed that about 70 House members had already agreed to co-sign (although not all had yet done so) as of July 18, including four members of the Lakas party. He said he was confident that the effort would pick up even more signatories in the next several days, although he and other opposition lawmakers admitted that Malacanang was working very hard to convince members of Congress not sign or support. Zamora asserted that the opposition approach was focused on bypassing House hearings entirely by transmitting the articles of impeachment to the Senate for trial as soon as possible. (A two-thirds vote of the Senate's 23 members will be required for conviction, with the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court presiding but not voting.) ¶4. (C) Details regarding the substance of the complaint are still emerging. Rep. Escudero publicly confirmed on July 18 that the complaint would include several major allegations against Arroyo, including charges of bribery, graft and corruption, "culpable violation" of the Constitution, treason, betrayal of public trust, and "other high crimes." Escudero said the opposition plans to include some 100 allegedly illicit acts committed by Arroyo since 2001 when she took office as evidence to support its case. In remarks to the press on July 18, Zamora confirmed reports that the opposition was talking with several members of Arroyo's cabinet who recently resigned, and added that he hoped to include "damaging testimony" from these former Arroyo allies in the impeachment complaint. Zamora described Arroyo as "dead meat" given the severity of the allegations his team was collating. ¶5. (C) Separately, former Senator Loren Legarda told Charge in a July 19 meeting that she was pursuing options that would link her current electoral protest case against Vice President Noli de Castro with the impeachment move. Legarda said she was trying to leverage the opposition's efforts to oust Arroyo to boost her own attempts to overturn Vice President De Castro's victory, which she called "a case of massive electoral fraud." (Note: Legarda ran for vice president against De Castro in May 2004 and lost. She is pursuing her electoral protest case in the courts. End Note.) -------------- Pro-Arroyo Side Fights Back -------------- ¶6. (C) Malacanang sources admitted on July 19 that there was a coordinated effort by the Arroyo camp to block the impeachment efforts in the House. Legislative Liaison Undersecretary Bernie Sayo confirmed that Arroyo herself and a coordinated Cabinet team were networking to "conduct loyalty checks" of House members in Arroyo's coalition. Sayo maintained that his marching orders were "to be aggressive" and that the Palace was "optimistic" that its effort would pay off and stymie any impeachment move in the House. He admitted that the situation was delicate since there were pressures to "allow Arroyo allies to publicly air their dissatisfaction with the scandals for publicity reasons." He added that the Palace was warning members of its coalition not to sign the impeachment complaint. If they do, they will be in "big trouble" with Malacanang, he said. -------------- Questions of Legal Interpretation -------------- ¶7. (C) There is some dispute as to how quickly an impeachment complaint might reach the Senate if indeed it qualifies to do so. The opposition believes that, with at least 79 signatories, the motion can go immediately to the Senate for trial, a claim that pro-Arroyo contacts strongly dispute. Palace official Sayo insisted to poloff that the "desire to short-circuit the House process" was not an option and that any complaint would have to go to hearings and an eventual plenary vote on the House floor. The dispute centers on differences in interpretation by both sides as to when a referral to the Senate -- which assesses the evidence and acts as a jury -- must be made according to the Constitution. Pro-Arroyo and opposition elements in the House are discussing ways to bridge their differences, without yet reaching a resolution. ¶8. (C) Supreme Court Spokesman Ismael Khan told Acting Pol/C on July 18 that the Supreme Court recognized that there were "areas of ambiguity" in the Constitutional rules on impeachment. He said the Supreme Court was already gearing up for a possible series of high-profile cases involving the impeachment process. Other legal experts have separately claimed that -- technically -- impeachment charges can over cover the current term of a President, which would mean that May 2004 election irregularities would not count. The Constitution did not envision a President who served more than one six year term, lawyers have claimed. -------------- Comment -------------- ¶9. (C) The tug-of-war over possible impeachment will dominate the headlines as the House and Senate resume sessions on July 25. Until recently, the opposition did not believe that impeachment was a truly viable option because Arroyo had such overwhelming support in the House. Although she still appears to have the upper hand, Arroyo has suffered some defections in the House of late and seems newly vulnerable there. If the complaint reaches the Senate, Arroyo may nonetheless also face some problems, too, due to recent defections from her side. Given the legal thicket surrounding impeachment, it seems quite likely that the Supreme Court could be called on to make some crucial decisions down the road, as in the Estrada impeachment in 2001, which might again call into question the Court's political impartiality. Chief Justice Davide is due to retire in December 2005 and competition is already stiff among possible replacements from within the sitting Justices. Visit Embassy Manila's Classified SIPRNET website: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eap/manila/index. cfm You can also access this site through the State Department's Classified SIPRNET website: http://www.state.sgov.gov/ MUSSOMELI