MANILA – The impeachment complaint against Commission on Elections Chairman Andres Bautista still has a fighting chance of being fully heard despite the earlier dismissal – for insufficiency in form – by the House Committee on Justice.
Atty. Lorna Kapunan, lawyer for Bautista’s estranged wife Patricia, made this clear, adding that under House rules, a one-third vote of the House can override the Justice panel’s decision when the plenary takes up the committee report.
The House rules are clear, Kapunan added: a complaint cannot be thrown out on mere “insufficiency in form.”
By their count, only 98 votes are needed to reverse the Justice committee decision.
“The impeachment complaint still has a life . . . Meron pa kaming [We still have] Round Two, 98 votes lang po ang kailangan natin sa congressmen [we just need 98 votes from the congressmen].”
Meanwhile, Kapunan also stressed that congressmen should have no fear that the impeachment would affect the outcome of the 2016 elections.
Kapunan stressed their evidence against Chairman Bautista is strong. “Huwag naman kami i- block [I hope they don’t block us]; we have hard physical evidence that do not lie.”
