Simeon Datumanong

Magkakaroon ba ng Hustisya sa GLORIAGATE scandal at magiging fair ba ang proseso kung yung dating DPWH at DOJ Secretary ni Arroyo ang nagpapatakbo ng impeachment proceedings?

Eh ang alam lang nito ay puro delaying tactics eh.

From the Malaya:

REP. Simeon Datumanong, chairman of the House justice committee, refused to yield yesterday after being besieged with calls that he inhibit himself from presiding over the impeachment proceedings on the grounds of his alleged bias for President Arroyo.

Parañaque Rep. Roilo Golez was the first to ask Datumanong to recuse himself from the hearings because he had allegedly "prejudged" the complaint when he told ANC cable channel in a taped interview aired last Thursday that all the impeachment complaints filed against the President should be treated separately in the light of the one-year ban.

Datumanong denied saying what Golez claimed he said. He also asked Golez to produce the tape of the interview.

Golez said he has a taped copy and transcript of the interview.

Datumanong left the decision on whether he should inhibit himself to the committee members, saying that he has been "very careful" in dealing with the three impeachment complaints.

"The chair would like to state that first, he’s not inhibiting himself, and second, that this is a political position which has been directed (to him) by the House in the plenary," he said.

Golez cited his own decision to relinquish the chairmanship of the committee on national defense, one of the five panels investigating the "Hello Garci" recordings, after the majority called attention to his bias against the President.

Rep. Clavel Martinez (Lakas, Cebu) reminded Datumanong that then House justice committee chair Pacifico Fajardo of Nueva Ecija inhibited himself from presiding over the deliberations on the impeachment case against President Estrada because he (Fajardo) was a relative of then Vice President Gloria Arroyo who stood to benefit if Estrada was ousted.

Rep. Antonio Serapio (NPC, Valenzuela) said since the rules of court are "supplementary" to the proceedings, Datumanong’s position is like that of a judge "so it won’t look good when he’s biased."

Here's Datumanong's photo.

UPDATE: I remember when Didagen Dilangalen was criticized, heckled and ridiculed for employing the same delaying tactics to defend Erap.

Pero bakit ngayon tahimik na ang mga bumatikos kay Dilangalen when a pro-Arroyo ally is using similar tactics to protect GMA?