Palace exec defends Aquino vs ‘dictator’ remarks

MANILA, Philippines— The people will never regard President Benigno Aquino as a dictator, a Palace spokesperson said in thumbing down comments made by critics on the supposed obsession of the Chief Executive to oust Chief Justice Renato Corona.

Abigail Valte on Wednesday insisted that the President “continues to do work of governance” amid the ongoing impeachment trial of Corona in the Senate.

“While he does from time to time get to see some parts of the impeachment, he does not monitor it obsessively as some people would like to propagate … in fact, the President continues to do his work,” she said, citing as example the recent visit of Mr. Aquino to Negros Oriental to see relief efforts there following the strong earthquake that struck Central and Western Visayas last week.

Asked to comment on former Sen. Ernesto Maceda’s statement that the government of Mr. Aquino was teetering towards a dictatorship over the President’s bid to oust Corona, Valte said: “You know, the last thing that people would believe about our President is that he is a dictator–very far from it.”

The President has been very vocal about Corona’s continued stay in the Supreme Court, accusing the Chief Justice, among others, of partiality toward former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who is facing several legal problems.