Syjuco wants SC to rule against Aquino immunity

Augusto “Boboy” Syjuco Jr. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—Former Iloilo Representative Augusto Syjuco Jr. on Wednesday asked the Supreme Court to rule against the President’s immunity from suit.

Syjuco filed a 19-page petition with the high court following the Office of the Ombudsman’s dismissal of his complaint for libel against President Benigno Aquino III for maligning his name during his 2013 State of the Nation Address.

In his petition, the immunity principle is devoid of any basis under the 1987 Constitution.

He explained that immunity from suit was in the 1973 Constitution but was stricken off in the 1987 Constitution.

“The present case primarily questions the constitutionality, existence and validity of presidential immunity from suits… The rule is that unlawful acts of public officials are not acts of the State and the officer who acts illegally is not acting as such but stands in the same footing as any trespasser.”

“[T]he textual or literal expression of presidential immunity present in the 1973 Constitution was deliberately dropped by the 1987 Constitution, a categorical expression of abandonment of a provision that would entrench tyranny,” the petition read.

In his Sona, Aquino announced that Syjuco, former head of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), was to be held accountable “for his part in the outrageous overpricing of the purchases by the agency.”

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