MANILA, Philippines -- (UPDATE) Vowing to speed up the processing of the impeachment complaint against President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, the House committee on justice has scheduled marathon hearings starting Tuesday.

But one of the endorsers of the complaint said the move could be a sign that Arroyo’s allies in the chamber intends to kill the case in a "blatant, haphazard" manner.

The hearings on the complaint, the fourth against Arroyo, have been scheduled from November 18 to 21, starting at 9:30 a.m.

Representative Matias Defensor, justice committee chairman, said the marathon hearings are needed to fast track the process because it is the President who is being impeached.

But Bayan Muna (People First) party list Representative Teodoro Casiño said the marathon hearings are "unprecedented" and betray the administration's plan to dismiss the complaint against Arroyo swiftly.

"They will do it blatantly, in haphazard manner," he said in a news conference.

"The danger we see is, just like in previous years, their [Arroyo allies] handling [of the complaint] will be brazen, so our appeal to the members of the majority is not to be too blatant. We are hoping they give a chance for this impeachment complaint to be discussed seriously," Casiño said.

But Defensor said holding marathon hearings is "not unusual. It's the President who is being impeached, we have to give it top priority, we have to fast track it, whether we are for or against it, because we don't want to end up impeaching a President who has only two or three months left in office.”

He also pointed out that there are equally important measures that needed to be attended to by his committee.

Defensor said the committee will also decide Tuesday on the motion for intervention filed by a group of bloggers seeking to add the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front to the charges against Arroyo.

He said the motion could either be incorporated into the original complaint or be treated as a separate complaint.

The justice committee will determine if the complaint is sufficient in form and substance.

Casiño said they expect the complaint to hurdle the committee's scrutiny as to form, but see intense discussions on substance.

"Palagay namin kung bibigyan lang ng pagkakataon ang mga [We believe if they give a chance to the] complainants and endorsers to present the cases in a systematic, deliberative and logical manner, then we would have a very strong case at mahihirapan ang justice committee na basta-basta na lang ito i-dismiss [and the justice committee will have a very hard time to dismiss] for insufficiency in substance," he said.

The impeachment complaint says Arroyo should be tried for her involvement in the national broadband network deal, the P728-million fertilizer fund scam, alleged bribery of House members, and human rights violations, among other charges.

The complaint has been endorsed by Casiño, fellow Bayan Muna Representative Satur Ocampo, Representative Liza Maza of Gabriela, Representative Rafael Mariano of Anakpawis, former speaker and Pangasinan Representative Jose de Venecia and Bukidnon Representative Teofisto Guingona III.