However, it does not matter whether the July 26, July 27 or any other complaint is valid since all the complaints contain the same issues, and all the complainants are united on the need to impeach President Arroyo so that the evidence on the charges of electoral fraud, political killings and corruption will be heard.

CODAL supports Rep. Lagman’s disagreement with Atty. Romulo Macalintal’s position that the impeachment complaint be dismissed because it is pending on appeal before the Supreme Court. After killing the impeachment complaint, it is abhorrent for presidential allies to now belatedly claim that it is still in fact “alive.” Furthermore, any public official with a pending impeachment case may still be charged with another impeachment complaint the following year, if he or she commits another impeachable offense subsequently. Atty. Macalintal’s legal thesis will mean that public officials are free to commit subsequent impeachable offenses and crimes provided they have a pending impeachment complaint.

The confusion and contradictions of legal opinions among presidential allies show that they have no clear and strong legal basis with which to quash the impeachment complaints on mere technicalities. The disarray among them may be favorable to the impeachment complaint and may convince many members of Congress that the impeachment complaints are valid in both form and substance.

Presidential allies must resort to fair play and not use amorphous and patently erroneous legal arguments to derail the impeachment this year and confuse the people. The “technical, prejudicial questions” worked last year. It may not work this year. Posted by Bulatlat

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