Senate Majority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano. INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines –Impeaching the President would only benefit Vice President Jejomar Binay, Senate Majority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano warned on Friday.
“Look, with all these calls and demonizing of everyone rather in a reasonable approach on how to sort out this, sino ba ang nakikinabang?” Cayateno asked during a press conference in Taguig City.
“Pag na impeach ang Pangulo, sino ba ang magiging presidente? Di ba si Vice President Binay? (If the President is impeached, who will replace him? Isn’t it Vice President Binay?) ”
The senator was reacting to some sectors pushing for President Aquino’s impeachment over the controversial Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP), which was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court this week.
“It’s a choice between someone, the President, who’s going after the PDAF scam, and someone na pag naging president, makakawala yung nasa PDAF scam,” he said.
PDAF is Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) also known as “pork barrel” funds.
Instead of filing an impeachment complaint against the President, Cayetano said Aquino’s critics should focus on good governance.
He also warned the President’s detractors against filing a weak complaint since the Constitution only allows the filing of one complaint every year against any impeachable official.
“So kung ipa-file mo dito sa pinakamahina, e kayo din. Walang mawawala,” Cayetano said.
“But again, sino ba ang makikinabang pag na impeach si President Aquino? Magiging presidente si Binay. E ngayon pa lang nakakulong pa si Senator Jinggoy, ang sinasabi nya gagawin nyang vice president e,” he said, referring to detained Senator Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada.
(But again, who will benefit most if the President is impeached? Binay will assume the post. And he (Binay) is already saying he would make Senator Jinggoy (Estrada) as his vice president.)
Estrada has been charged and detained in connection with the pork barrel scam.
“What does that mean? Naniniwala syang inosente si Senator Jinggoy. Ikaw ba gagawin mong vice president ang tingin mong plunderer? (He believes Senator Jinggoy is innocent. Will you make someone who you think is a plunderer your vice president?) ” Cayetano said.
Cayetano also believes that DAP was just an “honest mistake” on the part of Malacañang, and that no one should be held liable for it.
“Wala, wala (No one, no one),” he said when asked who should be held liable on the DAP issue.
He noted that the DAP had been done during the previous administrations and it was only now that it was declared unconstitutional by the high tribunal.
He also noted that when the SC declared the PDAF unconstitutional, no one was charged and sent to jail.
“Ibang usapan kung ninakaw yan…(It’s different if it’s stolen)” Cayetano said.
The senator did not also back the resignation calls for Budget Secretary Florencio Abad, the alleged architect of the DAP.
“To be fair with Secretary Abad, I think he’s being unfairly demonized,” Cayetano said.