US embassy cable - 05MANILA4019

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MANILA 004019 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EAP, EAP/IET, EAP/PMBS, INR/EAP, INR/B, DS 
NSC FOR GREEN 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/31/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, PINS, PINR, ASEC, RP 
SUBJECT: MAJORITY SEEMS SET TO WRAP UP IMPEACHMENT HEARINGS 
AMID OPPOSITION PROTESTS 
 
REF: A. OPS CENTER - MANILA 08/31/05 TELCON 
 
     B. MANILA 3994 
     C. MANILA 3901 
     D. MANILA 3391 
     E. MANILA 3154 
 
Classified By: Political Officer Timothy Cipullo for 
reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
1.  (C) Summary:  The pro-Arroyo Majority in the House voted 
August 31 to disallow the Opposition's impeachment complaint 
against President Arroyo in favor of a weaker complaint filed 
earlier by a private citizen.  There are also reports that 
the Majority is planning to throw out this remaining 
impeachment complaint on technical grounds.  Most Opposition 
members have walked out of the hearings, asserting that 
Malacanang is trying to stifle debate.  The Opposition 
promises that it will continue its anti-Arroyo efforts by 
other means, such as rallies, but there is little sign that 
its call for protests is gaining much traction among the 
general public.  End Summary. 
 
-------------------------- 
Majority: Firmly in Charge 
-------------------------- 
 
2.  (U) The House Justice Committee resumed hearings on the 
impeachment complaints filed against President Arroyo on 
August 31 (ref b).  Most Opposition lawmakers boycotted the 
proceedings.  The issues under discussion in the hearing were 
quite technical and procedure-related, but the vote taken 
during the session basically sounded the death knell for the 
Opposition's impeachment effort.  Late in the day, over the 
vociferous objections by the handful of Opposition 
representatives in attendance, the Committee voted 48 to 4 
that the original impeachment complaint filed by private 
citizen Oliver Lozano invalidated the amended petition filed 
by Opposition lawmakers on July 25 (ref d).  A third petition 
filed by another private citizen was also ruled out of order. 
 The August 31 vote took place after Majority lawmakers 
suddenly reconvened the Committee late August 30 and voted 52 
to 2 that the three impeachment petitions were distinct and 
could be voted on one by one (most Opposition lawmakers had 
already walked out by the time of the vote). 
 
3.  (C) Having determined which complaint to consider, the 
Committee will now move on to debate whether the Lozano 
complaint is sufficient in form and substance.  This will 
culminate in a decision either to throw it out or to send it 
to the Senate for trial.  Contacts report that the Majority 
is planning to throw out the Lozano complaint on technical 
grounds.  Congressman Gilberto Teodoro, a pro-Arroyo 
legislator, told Acting Pol/C on August 31 that "it was all 
over for the impeachment effort -- the Lozano complaint will 
be thrown out, too." 
 
---------------------- 
Opposition Frustration 
---------------------- 
 
4.  (U) As mentioned, most Opposition lawmakers chose to 
boycott the August 31 proceedings, asserting that the 
Majority was denying them the chance to air their charges. 
Representative Teodoro Casino, from the leftist party list 
group Bayan Muna, stated: "we will not be party to this 
sham."  Opposition leaders asserted that the decision to 
accept the original impeachment complaint filed by Lozano in 
June was part of a "plot" by Malacanang "to inoculate" the 
President against impeachment charges. 
 
5.  (U) On this latter point, former Department of Social 
Welfare and Development Secretary Corazon "Dinky" Soliman, a 
former Cabinet member who has turned against Arroyo, publicly 
claimed that she had heard the President instruct a political 
advisor to have a pro-Arroyo representative endorse Lozano's 
complaint earlier this year.  The Opposition claims the 
Administration accepted the Lozano complaint (which is very 
weak in substance) in order to forestall more serious charges 
by the Opposition.  (Note:  Under Philippine law, only one 
impeachment complaint may be filed against an official within 
a year, which places a premium on precedence.  End Note.) 
Soliman said Malacanang had pressed Lozano to move forward 
with his complaint knowing full well that it could be 
dismissed later on technical grounds.  Malacanang has 
strongly denied the charges. 
 
6.  (C) As the Committee met, several hundred left-leaning 
protesters kept up a vigil outside the House of 
Representatives complex in Quezon City.  Demonstrators 
repeated calls for Arroyo's resignation.  Police scuffled 
with several groups of protesters armed with sticks and 
rocks, and several injuries were reported among both 
protesters and security forces.  In an interview conducted 
outside the House of Representatives, Brother Eddie 
Villanueva, leader of the Evangelical Christian "Jesus Is 
Lord" movement, said that he is willing to lead Opposition 
supporters into the streets "if the Constitutional process 
fails."  (Note:  There were also reports that two other 
Opposition leaders, Susan Roces and Corazon Aquino, planned 
to address demonstrators in the vicinity of Congress.  End 
Note.)  In an August 31 conversation with Opposition 
Congressman Ronnie Zamora, Acting Pol/C underscored the 
importance of respecting law and order, and ensuring that no 
violence took place.  Zamora said the Opposition understood 
this.  He added that there was considerable frustration among 
some anti-Arroyo elements who felt that Arroyo had gone back 
on a promise to allow impeachment charges to be discussed in 
the House. 
 
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Comment 
------- 
 
7.  (C) With the impeachment route virtually foreclosed at 
this point, the Opposition has promised that it will continue 
its anti-Arroyo effort by other means, such as rallies and 
press briefings.  There is little sign that its call for 
protests is gaining much traction among the general public, 
however.  So far, the crowds appearing in the vicinity of 
Congress have been quite small by Filipino standards.  It is 
possible that the bare-knuckled way Malacanang has imposed 
its will on the impeachment process could spark some broader 
concerns.  Some normally neutral observers have told us that 
the Majority's actions have made a poor impression.  The 
Opposition, no doubt, will try to take advantage of any 
sympathy it receives in the hope that it can revive its 
flagging anti-Arroyo campaign. 
 
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You can also access this site through the State Department's 
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http://www.state.sgov.gov/ 
 
JOHNSON