Aquino rejects bishops’ take on impeachment

President Benigno Aquino III. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

President Benigno Aquino III on Wednesday dismissed allegations made by two Catholic bishops that he was trying to influence the Senate impeachment court as well as wield his influence over coequal branches of government in Congress and in the judiciary.

“Do we still have to comment?” President Aquino said.

“When did the Supreme Court rule in the administration’s favor over something that we think is really needed by the country,” he added.

President Aquino went back on the Supreme Court’s issuance in 2010 of a status quo ante order stopping the removal from the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos (NCMF) of an alleged midnight appointee of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Mr. Aquino indicated that the NCMF caused inconvenience to a thousand Hajj pilgrims when it asked from Saudi Arabia just 4,000 visas and accepted applications for 5,000.

“So what happened? There were 1,000 who lost face,” President Aquino said.