Rep. Umali calls on House to defy SC status quo order on Ombudsman impeachment case
Posted by unang apluma on Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Under: news
“LET us not lose by default. Let us assert our constitutional prerogative as an independent body of the Filipino people.”
With this, Oriental Mindoro 2nd District Rep. Reynaldo Umali called on the House Committee on Justice to commence the impeachment proceedings against Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez despite the status quo order of the Supreme Court to assert “congressional independence and its position that impeachment is our sole and exclusive prerogative”.
“I personally take the stand, as Vice-Chair of the Committee on Justice, not to submit to the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court in the current impeachment case.,” Umali said during his privilege speech Monday, adding that as member of the Philippine Bar, he is now at risk of judicial discipline for taking a view not supportive of the jurisprudence laid down by the High Court in the Francisco vs House of Representatives case.
In his speech, Umali described as “fallacious” the Supreme Court’s status quo order in the impeachment proceedings against Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez.
“The Supreme Court over-extended the limits of judicial power and crossed the borders of legislative prerogatives - utterly disregarding the basic tenets of separation of powers, the system of checks and balances, and public accountability,” Umali said.
The lawmaker is convinced that the Supreme Court overstepped an exclusive congressional prerogative when it issued a resolution en banc on September 14, 2010, in G. R. No. 193459, requiring the Committee on Justice of the House of Representatives, to observe the status quo in the pending impeachment proceedings of the Ombudsman.
As embodied in Section 3, Article 11 of the 1987 Constitution, Umali emphasized that “impeachment is within the sole and exclusive jurisdiction of Congress and no part of which is shared with either the Judiciary or the Executive Branch”.
“To my mind, we have no more reason to be in this August Body if we simply sit back, remain quiescent and allow a mockery of the doctrine of separation of powers to go unbridled,” Umali said.
Umali added that allowing SC to dictate on a matter put solely under the powers of the legislative branch would result in an anticipated constitutional dilemma that could be avoided just by invoking the specific and exclusive constitutional mandate of Congress over impeachment cases.
“Now is the time to assert and define our constitutional and political history and put our impeachment process - to borrow the words of our President, Benigno S. Aquino III, ‘sa daang matuwid’, strictly in accordance with our Constitution,” Umali emphasized.
Yesterday, Umali filed House Resolution No. 458, expressing the sense of the House of Representatives for the Honorable Supreme Court to exercise judicial statesmanship and restraint and to immediately lift its September 14, 2010 status quo order in G. R. No. 193459.
The resolution also called on SC to dismiss, at the soonest possible time, the petition involving the impeachment of Ombudsman Gutierrez, for lack of jurisdiction, it being a political issue and, therefore, non-justiciable and in the name of separation of powers, checks and balances and public accountability under the Constitution.
Once approved, Umali said Congress should submit the resolution to the Supreme Court, in lieu of the compliance of our Committee on Justice to comment on the petition in G. R. No. 193459.
With this, Oriental Mindoro 2nd District Rep. Reynaldo Umali called on the House Committee on Justice to commence the impeachment proceedings against Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez despite the status quo order of the Supreme Court to assert “congressional independence and its position that impeachment is our sole and exclusive prerogative”.
“I personally take the stand, as Vice-Chair of the Committee on Justice, not to submit to the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court in the current impeachment case.,” Umali said during his privilege speech Monday, adding that as member of the Philippine Bar, he is now at risk of judicial discipline for taking a view not supportive of the jurisprudence laid down by the High Court in the Francisco vs House of Representatives case.
In his speech, Umali described as “fallacious” the Supreme Court’s status quo order in the impeachment proceedings against Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez.
“The Supreme Court over-extended the limits of judicial power and crossed the borders of legislative prerogatives - utterly disregarding the basic tenets of separation of powers, the system of checks and balances, and public accountability,” Umali said.
The lawmaker is convinced that the Supreme Court overstepped an exclusive congressional prerogative when it issued a resolution en banc on September 14, 2010, in G. R. No. 193459, requiring the Committee on Justice of the House of Representatives, to observe the status quo in the pending impeachment proceedings of the Ombudsman.
As embodied in Section 3, Article 11 of the 1987 Constitution, Umali emphasized that “impeachment is within the sole and exclusive jurisdiction of Congress and no part of which is shared with either the Judiciary or the Executive Branch”.
“To my mind, we have no more reason to be in this August Body if we simply sit back, remain quiescent and allow a mockery of the doctrine of separation of powers to go unbridled,” Umali said.
Umali added that allowing SC to dictate on a matter put solely under the powers of the legislative branch would result in an anticipated constitutional dilemma that could be avoided just by invoking the specific and exclusive constitutional mandate of Congress over impeachment cases.
“Now is the time to assert and define our constitutional and political history and put our impeachment process - to borrow the words of our President, Benigno S. Aquino III, ‘sa daang matuwid’, strictly in accordance with our Constitution,” Umali emphasized.
Yesterday, Umali filed House Resolution No. 458, expressing the sense of the House of Representatives for the Honorable Supreme Court to exercise judicial statesmanship and restraint and to immediately lift its September 14, 2010 status quo order in G. R. No. 193459.
The resolution also called on SC to dismiss, at the soonest possible time, the petition involving the impeachment of Ombudsman Gutierrez, for lack of jurisdiction, it being a political issue and, therefore, non-justiciable and in the name of separation of powers, checks and balances and public accountability under the Constitution.
Once approved, Umali said Congress should submit the resolution to the Supreme Court, in lieu of the compliance of our Committee on Justice to comment on the petition in G. R. No. 193459.
In : news