US embassy cable - 05MANILA3697

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