Aquino slams leftist groups for impeach move

MANILA, Philippines–President Aquino on Thursday said he believed he would get justice in the impeachment complaints filed against him by militant groups, which he pointed out have always been his critics.

Aquino dismissed the finding of the House committee on justice that the complaints were sufficient in form, the first hurdle in the impeachment process.

“It would be difficult [for these] to be insufficient in form because [they’re] just a form in the first place. It’s just like filling in the blanks,” the President said in a taped interview aired on Bombo Radyo Thursday morning.

Leftist groups

“But at the end of the day, I believe we will get justice. And look at who filed them. Most of them, we can say, are members of leftist groups. When they are mad at me, and you can attest to this, they would stage rallies several times in our home on Times [Street] and we know that I am not there,” he said.

The President lives in his official residence called Bahay Pangarap, located within the Malacañang complex.

“They are attacking me on a very personal level,” Aquino said.

He criticized the leftist groups, saying it seemed that they get mad at him when things are going right in the country.

“Their numbers are dwindling because more people now trust the government,” he said.

Aquino conceded, however, that the filing of the impeachment complaints against him was part of the process he embraced when he accepted the challenge to lead the country four years ago.

DAP, Edca complaints

The militant groups filed two impeachment complaints against President Aquino for his approval of the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP), designed as an economic stimulus plan of his administration. The Supreme Court declared parts of the DAP unconstitutional on July 1.

The third impeachment complaint stemmed from the signing in April of the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (Edca) with the United States, which the complainants said violated the constitutional provision banning foreign military bases in the country.

The House justice committee will determine by next week if the complaints are sufficient in substance, the second hurdle in the impeachment process.

If these are found to be sufficient in substance, then the impeachment proceedings will begin in the plenary.

The House of Representatives is dominated by President Aquino’s political allies.

Grow up

Reacting to President Aquino’s statement, Bayan secretary general Renato Reyes said in a text message that “rather than attack the background of the complainants, he should grow up and answer the allegations” raised against him.

Bayan is among the groups that filed the impeachment complaints.

Reyes urged Aquino to read the impeachment complaint before making “wild accusations that the complaint is just a personal attack on him by the Left.”

“The complaint was [signed] by a broad range of individuals, some of whom even supported him in the past. If he only takes time to actually read the complaint, he will see that there are serious allegations regarding culpable violations of the Constitution and betrayal of public trust that we did not conjure out of thin air but rather based on actual documents that he signed,” Reyes said.