Tuesday 12th April, 2011
(Updated 7:42 p.m.) The House of Representatives has completed the list of congressmen who will serve as prosecutors during Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez’s impeachment trial at the Senate next month.
Iloilo Rep. Niel Tupas Jr., head of the team, identified the following lawmakers as prosecutors in the impeachment trial:
•Ilocos Norte Rep. Rodolfo Fariñas
•Quezon Rep. Lorenzo Tañada III
•Akbayan party-list Rep. Arlene Bag-ao
•Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Neri Colmenares
•Cavite Rep. Joseph Emilio Abaya
•Oriental Mindoro Rep. Reynaldo Umali
•Marikina Rep. Romero Quimbo
•Valenzuela Rep. Magtanggol Gunigundo
•Cavite Rep. Elpidio Barzaga Jr.
•Northern Samar Rep. Raul Daza
"The Speaker got a list of all the lawyers in the House. Based on discussions with us, he chose the members based on the criteria that they should be believers of the case and they are willing to commit their time on it," Tupas told GMA News Online in a phone interview Tuesday.
Tupas, Fariñas and Tañada have earlier been elected by the House plenary to the prosecution panel last March.
The remaining eight members of the team will be formally nominated by the Majority Floor Leader Mandaluyong Rep. Neptali Gonzales II and elected on the House floor when the chamber resumes sessions on May 9.
Tupas said the prosecution team will conduct a series of meetings within the week to designate each of the six articles of impeachment to the 11 prosecutors.
Each prosecutor is free to get a private prosecutor to assist them during the trial, he added.
Citizens’ Battle Against Corruption (CIBAC) party-list Rep. Sherwin Tugna and Democratic Independent Workers’ Association (DIWA) party-list Rep. Emmeline Aglipay were meanwhile designated as the prosecution panel’s spokespersons, he said.
Two other lawmakers, AKO BICOL party-list Rep. Rodel Batocabe and South Cotabato Rep. Daisy Avance-Fuentes, have meanwhile “signified intent to help out during the proceedings" without being part of the 11-man panel.
The House approved last March 21 the articles of impeachment against Gutierrez and sent them to the Senate for trial.
The Ombudsman is being accused of betrayal of public trust for low conviction rates during her term and her supposed inaction in five high-profile cases.
The Senate will formally start the Ombudsman's impeachment trial at 2 p.m. on May 9.