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July 23, 2010
QUEZON CITY – A former Akbayan party-list lawmaker has filed a new impeachment complaint against Ombudsman Merciditas Gutierrez at the House of Representatives. The complaint was filed by former Akbayan party-list Rep. Risa Hontiveros, retired military general Danilo Lim, and Felipe and Evelyn Pestano. They charged the Ombudsman with betrayal of public trust and culpable violation of the Constitution.
They cited seven grounds for the impeachment of Gutierrez — the alleged low conviction rates of the Ombudsman since 2008, which according to them, indicate a criminal level of incompetence and which constitute a clear betrayal of public trust; the Ombudsman’s alleged failure to act promptly on cases filed against former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and Husband Mike Arroyo, and other public officials on the botched NBN-ZTE deal; the alleged inexcusable delay in the investigation of the wrongful death of ensign Philip Pestano aboard a Philippine Navy vessel, a case in which the United Nations itself rapped the Ombudsman for unreasonable delay; the alleged decision of the Ombudsman to uphold the legality of the arrest and involuntary detention of Hontiveros by thePhilippine National Police (PNP) at the height of the “Hello Garci” controversy; the alleged failure of the Ombudsman to investigate the P1 million dinner for the presidential party at the Le Cirque restaurant in New York; the alleged repeated failure of the Ombudsman to take prompt action on various cases involving the former president, such as the alleged Mega-Pacific scam, among others; and the alleged refusal of the Ombudsman to grant ready access to public records such as the Statement of Assets and Liabilities of former Pampanga Rep. Juan Miguel “Mikey” Arroyo.