MANILA, Philippines ? The impeachment complaints against Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez will go through the process in the committee level at the House of Representatives, Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. said Thursday, as he spurned calls to lead in gathering signatures from his colleagues to send the cases right away to the Senate for trial.

Militant partylist representatives have urged Belmonte?s Liberal Party (LP) to secure the required 90 signatures or one-third of the membership of the House that would automatically send the complaints to the Senate, which would convene like a court to decide whether to oust Gutierrez from office.

While it is not impossible to gather 90 signatures, Belmonte said he was averse to the idea.

?Probably it?s not an impossible task to go there and have people sign the impeachment, something like in effect fast tracking it, but I don?t think it?s a good idea. I would not encourage that thing. I would like this whole thing to go on in fairness to all persons concerned,? he said in his weekly news conference.

The House leader said he respected the rules of the justice committee with regards to the impeachment process and would allow the panel, headed by Iloilo Representative Niel Tupas Jr., to proceed with the hearings.

The committee on Wednesday decided that the two impeachment complaints ? one filed by former Akbayan Representative Risa Hontiveros and the other by the group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan ? were sufficient in form.

The panel will decide next week if the complaints are sufficient in substance before proceeding with the presentation of evidence, if needed.