MANILA, Philippines ? Without a quorum, the House of Representatives adjourned late Wednesday without voting on the impeachment complaint against Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez.
After three hours of debate and when the voting was about to begin, Akbayan party list Representative Risa Hontiveros questioned the quorum and the roll was called.
There were just 116 congressmen left. At least 135 members should be present to constitute a quorum. At the start of the session, there were 169 members present.
During the debates, Hontiveros attempted to stop the voting by raising questions on the voting of the committee on justice on the sufficiency in substance of the complaint on September 29.
Hontiveros said the voting of the committee was ?irregular, premature and in violation of the rules of impeachment.?
?The correct and proper thing to do is not to take it up and remand the complaint to the committee on justice for proper proceedings,? Hontiveros said in her motion.
Bayan Muna party list Representative Teodoro Casino questioned the lack of signatures of the committee members in the report, saying there were only 23 signatures, instead of the needed 28.
He said the 23 signatures did not represent the majority members (one-half plus one) of the 55-member committee. He added that if the five ex-officio members also signed, the one-half plus one required signatures should also increase to 31.
Expounding on Casino?s argument, Paranaque Representative Roilo Golez pointed to a House rule that says that ex-officio members ?shall be included in the total number of committee members for purposes of determining the existence of quorum.?
All motions, however, were outvoted.
The committee on justice earlier voted that the complaint was sufficient in form but was found not sufficient in substance.
Gutierrez had been charged with betrayal of public trust and culpable violation of the Constitution in the complaint filed in March by former Cabinet officials and leaders of civil society groups led by former Senate President Jovito Salonga. The complaint was filed in March this year.
