MANILA, Philippines ? Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez will have a fair hearing on the impeachment complaint filed against her, the new chairperson of the committee at the House of Representatives that will tackle the case said Friday.

Iloilo Representative Niel Tupas Jr. said formal hearings on the complaint could begin by the first or second week of September once it has been referred to the justice committee.

"You can expect me to be very fair as chair," he said in a phone interview, stressing that he would play a balanced role during the hearings.

In the 14th Congress, the impeachment complaint against Gutierrez included her dismissal of Tupas' father, Iloilo Governor Niel Tupas.

Tupas voted against the committee report presented in plenary that dismissed the complaint against Gutierrez for insufficiency in substance.

Tupas noted some "lapses" in the conduct of hearings by the justice committee, then headed by Quezon City Representative Matias Defensor.

"There were lapses in terms of following the Constitution and the rules of the House, that's why I voted against the report in plenary," he said.

"Some jurisprudence were not properly appreciated at that time," he added.

Both the complainants and Gutierrez can expect the justice committee to be a fair venue in hearing the case, Tupas said.

He said he could not guarantee how his colleagues in the ruling party, the Liberal Party, would stand on the case, but noted that it was important to have the right person as Ombudsman in the administration's fight against corruption.