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Friday, March 29, 2024

Hearing on Bautista’s impeachment case reset

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The House of Representatives’ committee on justice will deliberate on the Articles of Impeachment against resigned Commission on Elections chairman Andres Bautista as soon as it is able to finalize the draft for submission to the Senate, a House official said on Tuesday.

Oriental Mindoro Rep. Reynaldo Umali, the panel chairperson, said that the committee canceled its scheduled hearing today Wednesday as its legal team has yet to finish the Articles of Impeachment.

“My legal team is working on the articles of impeachment as we speak,” Umali said on Wednesday.

The House justice committee earlier set for today the deliberations on Articles of Impeachment after the House reversed the committee decision to dismiss the Bautista impeachment complaint by 137- 75.

Umali said the absence of a quorum for the 55-man justice panel prompted him to reschedule the hearing.

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“We are resetting the hearing because no members confirmed their presence,” said Umali. “We will try next week [to hold a hearing].”

Congress went on a month long Halloween break which started last Oct. 13. It will resume session on Nov. 13.

Umali earlier said the committee will conduct a case build-up to ensure a solid impeachment case against Bautista.

He said the committee would want to elevate to the Senate a credible Articles of Impeachment against the poll chief who said he could explain the allegations of the alleged ill-gotten wealth.

 Bautista’s estranged wife, Patricia, earlier accused the Comelec chief of corruption while in government service, claiming that Bautista has several undeclared properties in his 2016 statement of assets, liabilities and net worth.

The complaint was embodied in the impeachment case filed against the poll chief by lawyers Ferdinand Topacio and Jacinto Paras, accusing Bautista of betrayal of public trust and culpable violation of the Constitution over allegations of ill-gotten wealth.

The complainants also questioned Bautista’s failure to properly declare his SALN and reported receipt of referral fees from the Divina Law firm as well as his  failure to prevent the data breach or hacking of the Comelec website.

Bautista’s term was supposed to expire on Feb. 2, 2022. But he resigned effective December 31, 2017.

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