IMPEACHMENT CASE STILL STRONG DESPITE
UNFAVORABLE CBCPS STAND -- PIMENTEL

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Nene Q. Pimentel, Jr. (PDP-Laban) today said congressmen supporting the impeachment of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo should not be deterred from their stand despite the position of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) that it is not inclined to support such move due to apprehension that it would just be a futile exercise.

Pimentel said pro-impeachment congressmen who have declared that they are unfazed by the CBCPs stand deserve support and commendation.

He said there is no doubt that the CBCPs stand is a blow to the impeachment case, but whether this will save the President from the ouster move remains to be seen.

The CBCP has a lot of influence over the thinking of our people even on the lawmakers, Pimentel said. It stands to reason that if they believe the impeachment process is not the way to go, that would have a tremendous impact on the way the members of Congress would discharge their duty as the initiator and processor of the impeachment effort.

He called on lawmakers to decide on the impeachment charges based on their merits and the primordial principle of what is right or wrong and not on narrow partisan interest or monetary considerations.

I can only hope that the congressmen and women concerned do not allow Gloria to buy them off as some of them had turned around after she unleashed her financial clout over some of them during the impeachment proceedings last year, Pimentel said.

Indeed, my position is that it is better to demand that Gloria should resign so that new elections can be held to elect the new leaders of the nation.