Arguing over side issues bogged down a congressional hearing yesterday on impeachment complaints against Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
"We are quarreling about things we are not supposed to quarrel about. We have not started actually, we are still quibbling about the agenda," committee Vice Chairman Arthur Defensor told ABS-CBN television during a break.
Opposition legislators questioned the impartiality of the House Justice Committee chairman, Simeon Datumanong -- Arroyo's former justice secretary -- who is presiding over the proceedings.
Several lawmakers demanded that Datumanong step aside, citing his statements on a TV talk show that wiretapped recordings -- the basis for the complaints -- were inadmissible as evidence, and that the three impeachment cases filed against Arroyo violated a rule against more than one within a year.
With lawmakers vying loudly to be allowed to speak, Datumanong flatly refused to yield.
"You've been appointed twice by the same president that is the subject of these hearings," opposition Representative Jacinto Paras said, referring to Datumanong's former positions in Arroyo's Cabinet.
Other lawmakers questioned the agenda. Representative Rodante Marcoleta insisted that the House committee had no jurisdiction to rule over which of three complaints against Arroyo should be heard, saying the Supreme Court should decide.
Marcoleta sponsored the first complaint, which the opposition says is the weakest. Opposition lawmakers filed amendments to bolster the charges against Arroyo, which include violating the Constitution, betraying public trust, corruption and bribery.
But Arroyo allies have argued that the amendments should not be considered, calling them new complaints that violate the one-year ban.
Opposition leaders have urged Arroyo to resign instead of going through a painful trial by the Senate.
Key evidence in the case includes alleged wiretapped conversations between Arroyo and an election official about ways to ensure a million-vote victory.
Arroyo has apologized for a "lapse in judgment" in calling an election official before results were announced, but has denied influencing the vote and refused to step down.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese