Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
Malacañang on Thursday shrugged off a petition seeking the impeachment of President Benigno Aquino III over the now defunct Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) and Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF).
Former Tarlac governor Margarita “Tingting” Cojuangco and several others asked the Supreme Court on Wednesday to order the Ombudsman to investigate and file an impeachment complaint against Aquino.
Cojuangco is the President’s aunt being the wife of his mother’s brother, Peping.
READ: Tingting Cojuangco, Belgica seek Aquino impeachment over DAP, PDAF
Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said Malacañang had yet to formally receive a copy of the petition.
“However, in our opinion, the suit apparently consists of recycled charges that have no basis in fact and in law,” he said.
The 45-page petition for Mandamus with Preliminary Mandatory Injunction also asked for the prosecution of the proponents, authors and implementors of the DAP and lawmakers guilty of misusing the PDAF.
The petitioners, including former Manila councilor Greco Belgica, Bishop Reuben M. Abante, Quintin P. San Diego, Rev. Jose Gonzales and Atty. Glenn A. Chong, said, “Considering that time is of the essence and there is great danger or risk that those involved would try to obstruct their investigation or prosecution, being in power, not to mention the need to put a stop to the interminable dilly-dallying and unwarranted excuses or dereliction of functions and duties of the concerned prosecutorial organs of the government, there is an imperious need for the Honorable Court to issue a writ of preliminary mandatory injunction directing them to act accordingly.”
The Supreme Court declared the PDAF unconstitutional after reports of the pork barrel scam surfaced.
Several lawmakers were accused of pocketing commissions from the likes of Janet Lim-Napoles, who allegedly siphoned off billions of pesos in PDAF funds through bogus projects of non-government organizations under her control .
DAP, on the other hand, was declared partly unconstitutional. Kristine Angeli Sabillo