Bayan Muna vows to endorse impeachment case vs Aquino

MANILA, Philippines—The militant partylist Bayan Muna said it would endorse the impeachment complaint of youth groups against President Benigno Aquino III over the unconstitutionality of his Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP).

“We are ready to endorse an impeachment complaint against President Aquino being the author of the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) that was declared as unconstitutional by the Supreme Court,” Bayan Muna Representative Carlos Zarate said in a statement.

Zarate acknowledged that Congress remains “controlled by majority of Aquino allies” who he alleged are “ironically rabid allies before of disgraced former President Gloria Arroyo when impeachment complaints were filed against her.”

Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

Arroyo was challenged with impeachment complaints for allegedly being an illegitimate president amid election fraud allegations during her term. The impeachment complaints did not prosper.

“(U)ltimately, history will be mindful of the fact that the people demanded accountability from a deceptive president peddling the hypocritical program of ‘matuwid na daan,’” Zarate said.

Militant YOUTH ACT NOW had said it would join Kabataan partylist in filing the impeachment complaint against Aquino.

But political blocs who are Aquino allies in Congress vowed to block moves to impeach the President.

DAP funds, essentially an economic stimulus fund and a savings-impounding mechanism, have been criticized after Senator Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada exposed that the supposed presidential “pork barrel” funds were given allegedly as “incentives” to senators who voted to oust convicted Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona.

Various groups lauded the SC’s move to rule DAP, criticized as the president’s “pork barrel,” as illegal.

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