Senate Pro Tempore Ralph Recto. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines – Senate Pro Tempore Ralph Recto expressed doubt that an impeachment move against President Benigno Aquino III would prosper, citing the support of his allies in Congress.
“The impeachment process is also political. I don’t see that happening realistically,” Recto, an administration ally, told reporters on Tuesday.
Reports said youth groups are preparing an impeachment complaint against Aquino for allegedly inventing and abusing the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP), which was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.
Asked why an impeachment move would not prosper, Recto said: “Because I think that the President has many supporters in Congress, politically.”
Besides, the senator pointed out that the next presidential election is just two years away and the Filipinos would choose again a new leader.
“Anyone is free to initiate. We have two years to go. We will have presidential elections in 2016. People are looking forward to elections as well I suppose. That’s my point of view,” he said.
“We should change presidents during elections,” the senator added.
Recto, meanwhile, welcomed the SC’s decision declaring the DAP unconstitutional, saying the ruling strengthened the power of Congress.
“By and large it strengthens Congress, the power of the purse of Congress. That’s my initial impression of the SC ruling, which should be welcomed,” he said.
“It strengthens Congress as an institution, it weakens the executive’s ability to realign funds, to make its own budget, so on and so forth. That’s my impression of the ruling so I welcome the ruling in that sense.”
With the SC’s decision, Recto said all expenditures of the government , including the proposed 2015 national budget, must be “DAP-decision-compliant.”
“I have yet to read the decision but I am sure that it will rewrite the program on how appropriations are utilized,” he said.
To the credit of this administration, Recto said, it was no longer doing any and all acts the Supreme Court has struck down as unconstitutional.
“These practices have long been abandoned. These violations are not in progress but have long been unilaterally terminated by the government,” he said.
While there could have been an “oversight” in the way the DAP funds were released, the senator was certain that the money was properly spent.
“Remember that there is no allegation that they were stolen. The debate was on the process followed. The discussion centered on the means rather than the end,” Recto said.
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