6 November 2003 - Foreign Affairs Secretary Blas F. Ople yesterday threw his full support behind the covenant proposed by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to break the impasse on the impeachment of Supreme Court Chief Justice Hilario Davide, Jr.

He called on the leaders of the Senate, the House of Representatives and the Supreme Court to accept the covenant which “holds the key not only to resolving the impeachment crisis but also to the preservation of the country’s political stability which is central to the economic recovery program.”

Ople was a member of the Constitutional Commission of 1986 appointed by President Corazon Aquino which wrote the present Constitution and was vice chairman of its committee on Constitutional Amendments.

Calling the covenant an instrument of wisdom and reconciliation, Ople said the three parties – the legislature, the executive and the judiciary have a grave responsibility to resolve the impeachment crisis in a fair, constitutional manner without sacrificing their respective institutional principles.

“The GMA-proposed covenant holds the correct answer,” Ople said.

The covenant proposed by President Arroyo, Ople said, calls for the withdrawal of the impeachment complaint by members of the House of Representatives and for remanding the investigation of the alleged misuse of the Judicial Development Fund to the House Committee on justice, with an active role for the Commission on Audit.

Ople said the covenant makes for a balanced, sensible and constitutional solution to the entire impeachment problem.

“It also guarantees the preservation of our political stability which is central to any economic progress,” he said.  END