Aquino says he an Akbayan are ‘influenced by our countrymen’

Ronald Llamas. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—President Benigno Aquino on Friday attended the congress of the Akbayan party-list of his political adviser, Ronald Llamas, and denied the party exerted undue influence over his administration as Chief Justice Renato Corona charged at his impeachment trial three days ago.

Both the President  and Akbayan, through its spokesperson Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel, denied that one controlled the other.

“What was said earlier was correct: that I don’t control Akbayan and that you don’t control me. We are both influenced by our countrymen,” Aquino in his speech at Akabayan’s Fifth Regular Congress at the Philippine International Convention Center.

It was Hontiveros, speaking ahead of the President, who first denied Corona’s allegations. The chief justice, appearing at his impeachment trial last Tuesday, claimed that Llamas held Aquino by the neck and that his left-leaning party influenced the Aquino administration.

“This is not a conspiracy; this is accountability,” Hontiveros said of Corona’s impeachment trial.