Kabataan Rep. Terry Ridon: Five-page complaint. INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines–With Malacañang offering no apologies and taking a defiant stance in the face of the adverse Supreme Court ruling on the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP), the Makabayan bloc is proceeding to endorse the impeachment complaint against President Aquino and the filing of plunder charges against Budget Secretary Florencio Abad.
Kabataan Rep. Terry Ridon, one of the seven-member Makabayan bloc in the House of Representatives, said his group would file its own impeachment complaint against the President in the committee on justice on July 14 and separate plunder and malversation charges against Abad in the Office of the Ombudsman on July 8.
Ridon said his group rejected the first impeachment complaint filed by Oliver Lozano, a private lawyer who sought Kabataan’s endorsement of the move on Thursday.
“While we appreciate attorney Lozano’s effort in producing an impeachment complaint ahead of everyone, we believe his five-page verified complaint contains weak arguments and fails to meet the stringent standards set by the Constitution. It is insufficient in form and substance,” Ridon said.
8 transgressions
In his five-page complaint, Lozano cited eight transgressions or shortcomings to back his complaint. These included:
— Failure to execute the law against PDAF (Priority Development Assistance Fund) and the DAP
— Failure to impose equal treatment of suspects and respondents in the pork barrel scam
— Political vendetta and selective justice in general
— “Dictatorship and bribery” to remove then Chief Justice Renato Corona
— Failure to rehabilitate the victims of calamities stalked by hunger, disease, insanity and prostitution
— Failure to stop skyrocketing prices of prime commodities; failure to stop tsunami of killings and violence
— Failure to stop China’s territorial invasion and abetting the “treason” of Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, who acted as a “back channel” between the Chinese government and Malacañang
‘Weak’ arguments
Ridon said Lozano’s arguments were “weak” and would be easily struck down at the House committee level.
“The discussion of substantive matters was too general,” he said, adding that Lozano “did not even mention why Aquino committed culpable violation of the Constitution through the DAP.”
Under the revised internal rules of the House of Representatives on impeachment proceedings first adopted in the 15th Congress, Ridon said individual impeachment complaints had to be consolidated first before the impeachment proceeding could begin.
“Such rules allow for the filing of several complaints while still complying with the Constitution,” he said, referring to Article 11 Section 3(5) of the 1987 Constitution, which states that “no impeachment proceedings shall be initiated against the same official more than once within a period of one year.”
Ridon said his group was “nearly done” with the plunder and malversation case it planned to file against Abad.
Citing the separate opinion of Associate Justice Arturo Brion, Ridon said Abad could not invoke “good faith” in not knowing that the DAP was unconstitutional when he drew up the budget circular creating the stimulus fund because he was a lawyer and with at least 12 years of experience as a representative (including a stint as chair of the House appropriations committee) and aided by a crack legal team in his department.
The Makabayan bloc is proceeding with the impeachment complaint despite declarations by administration allies in the 290-strong House to block any attempt to oust the President. A vote of at least one-third of the House is required to impeach the President and send the complaint to the Senate for trial.