CONTINUED BICKERING IN HOUSE OVER IMPEACHMENT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MANILA 003697 SIPDIS DEPT FOR EAP, EAP/PMBS, EAP/PD, INR/EAP, INR/B NSC FOR GREEN E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/10/2015 TAGS: PGOV PINS PINR SOCI RP VA SUBJECT: CONTINUED BICKERING IN HOUSE OVER IMPEACHMENT COMPLAINT REF: A. MANILA 3593 ¶B. MANILA 3458 ¶C. MANILA 3391 ¶D. MANILA 3367 ¶E. VATICAN 0500 ¶F. MANILA 3202 Classified By: Political Officer Timothy Cipullo for Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Summary: There has been continued bickering in the House over the Opposition's impeachment complaint against President Arroyo. Formal hearings in the Justice Committee began on August 10, with pro-Arroyo members immediately raising procedural questions about the nature of the complaint, while the Opposition charged that the Majority is seeking to derail debate. The Opposition has faced recent setbacks when two witnesses walked back charges that they had made in the Senate's illegal gambling hearings. One contact told us that the Papal Nuncio has taken to task Archbishop Oscar Cruz, a Catholic prelate who has been working closely with the Opposition regarding the illegal gambling hearings, warning him to stay out of politics. Overall, the Opposition's effort to undermine Arroyo appears to have run out of some steam of late. End Summary. -------------- Justice Committee Off to Rocky Start -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Although the House of Representatives has agreed to the basic rules on how to handle the Opposition's impeachment complaint against President Arroyo (ref a),members continue to squabble over procedural and technical matters. The House Justice Committee began its formal hearings on the complaint on August 10 with the aim of resolving the issue of which complaint to review, i.e., that filed by 42 pro-Opposition members on July 25 or that filed by a private citizen on June ¶27. The Opposition, claiming that it now has more than 50 endorsements, said it would be ludicrous for the Committee to review anything but its complaint. Some pro-Arroyo members disagreed, asserting that the Committee had an obligation to review the first complaint filed. ¶3. (SBU) The session quickly devolved into charges and counter-charges over technical issues. Opposition lawmakers, for example, sharply questioned Committee Chairman Simeon Datumanong's decision to prohibit non-Committee members from participating in the proceedings, saying he had violated existing rules. They also demanded a change in venue to accommodate all interested parties, and equal access to microphones for members and non-members. Further, they demanded that the Committee speed up the proceedings by holding more than one session per week. Thirty minutes into the proceedings, Chairman Datumanong announced that he was suspending the Committee's hearings until at least August 15 and he called for an in camera executive session to be held later in the day to review outstanding issues. The Opposition charged that the move was an effort to derail debate. -------------- Witness Problems for the Opposition -------------- ¶4. (SBU) The Opposition faced recent setbacks when two witnesses walked back charges that they had made in the Senate's jueting (illegal gambling) hearings into whether members of the President's family received payoffs. On August 4, Richard Garcia, a key witness, tearfully apologized and -- addressing his remarks to the President -- stated that Opposition members had coerced him into testifying against the first family. Garcia went on to announce that he had no personal knowledge of alleged Arroyo family involvement in the payoff scheme. On August 8, a second witness, Abe Riva, also apologized to the President in public, stating that Opposition members had coached him to link the First Family to jeuteng operations. ¶5. (SBU) Shaking off these setbacks, the Opposition is pressing on with new witnesses in the jueteng hearings. Senator Panfilo "Ping" Lacson, a major Opposition figure, called Captain Marlon Mendoza, a serving Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) army officer, to testify on August 10. In his remarks at the hearing, Mendoza sought to corroborate former Malacanang official Michaelangelo Zuce's recent testimony that Arroyo paid COMELEC officials to ensure her victory in the 2004 elections (ref a). Even before Mendoza's appearance, the AFP had begun to cast doubt upon his credibility. Military sources have alleged that Mendoza has been involved in "shady deals" and that he faces a court-martial for involvement in a racket to sell fake military IDs and other items. The AFP also warned that Mendoza may face penalties for involving himself in politics. -------------- Archbishop Reportedly Taken to Task -------------- ¶6. (C) A Catholic prelate close to the Opposition appears to be in some trouble with the Church hierarchy. In an August 9 meeting, Monsignor Hernando Coronel, General Secretary of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP),told Acting Pol/C that Papal Nuncio Antonio Franco summoned Archbishop Oscar Cruz, a well-known anti-jueting crusader, to his office last week. According to Coronel, the Papal Nuncio told Cruz that the Church did not approve of the role he was playing, and advised him to disengage from politics and the jueteng hearings. The Nuncio pointed out that Cruz and by extension the Church were receiving bad publicity because of the recent setbacks faced by Opposition witnesses recommended by Cruz (Cruz was close to Garcia and Riva). Coronel, noting that many bishops in the CBCP were uncomfortable with Cruz, remarked that Cruz was stubborn, and predicted that Cruz would press on with his anti-jueteng campaign. Cruz, indeed, turned up at the August 10 Senate hearings and in his testimony gave no sign of backing off his charges. -------------- Comment -------------- ¶7. (C) The Opposition has given every sign that it will continue to try to pressure Arroyo whenever possible. Overall, however, the effort to undermine Arroyo seems to have run out of some steam. The Opposition appears to have given the anti-Arroyo effort its very best shot in the past two months, and, after doing some real damage, is now re-grouping and examining its tactics and strategy. This is good news for Arroyo who has also improved her standing modestly in the polls of late. Papal Nuncio Franco, meanwhile, has recently shown himself to be quite an activist given his address to the CBCP in early July urging a restrained approach regarding the political situation (refs e and f) and Coronel's comments about the meeting with Cruz. 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/ JOHNSON