Aquino allies told: Stop ‘blindly’ defending him

Kabataan Rep. Terry Ridon: Patronage politics at its worst. INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines–A party-list lawmaker who endorsed one of several impeachment complaints against President Aquino appealed to the members of the House of Representatives to stop “blindly defending the President” and to read the charges first before shooting them down.

Kabataan Rep. Terry Ridon, a member of the Makabayan bloc in the House minority, said the ruling coalition should consider the merits before issuing any negative statements about the chances of the complaints prospering.

“There are reports of administration congressmen who want to shoot down the impeachment complaints even if they haven’t read the cases,” he said.

“This is a manifestation of patronage politics at its worst,” Ridon said in a statement.

Betrayal of public trust

On Tuesday, Ridon endorsed the impeachment complaint against Aquino filed by youth and student groups, who accused him of culpable violation of the Constitution, betrayal of public trust and graft and corruption in the implementation of the Disbursement Acceleration Program.

Members of the majority bloc have belittled the prospects of the complaints succeeding, vowing that they would block the move at the outset. A one-third vote in the 290-member House is required for any impeachment complaint to go to trial in the Senate.

“Instead of considering the merits of the complaints first, just as what any reputable legislator should do, some congressmen are so blinded in their defense of their Teflon president that they are ready to junk the complaints even before the impeachment proceedings begin,” Ridon said.

“To my colleagues in the majority, this I tell you: for blindly defending the ruling President despite his culpability, history will judge you,” he said.

“The history books of the future will depict you as mindless minions, meekly kowtowing to the President at a time when dissent and genuine opposition was needed,” Ridon said.

He also lashed out at the legislators who said Congress “should prioritize other pending legislation” like the freedom of information (FOI) bill.

“Congress should not use the FOI as an excuse to shoot down the impeachment complaint. Had the Palace wanted to really pass important legislation like the FOI, it would have already been passed by now,” said Ridon, who is one of the authors of the FOI bill.