‘Impeach Aquino’ plea filed after court order
Print Edition
TWENTY-EIGHT people, including activists and a retired Catholic bishop, filed an impeachment complaint yesterday against Philippine President Benigno Aquino III for his implementation of a major economic stimulus program that the Supreme Court has declared partly unconstitutional.
The complaint, filed in the House of Representatives, accuses Aquino of culpable violation of the constitution and betrayal of public trust by funding projects outside the Congress-approved annual budget. Lawmakers from three left-wing political parties endorsed it, making it the first valid impeachment complaint against Aquino, but it’s unclear whether it will get enough support in a Congress dominated by Aquino allies.
Aquino has said that under the Disbursement Acceleration Program, enforced from 2011 to last year, government savings and non-allotted revenues were used to provide electricity to remote villages, build schools and finance other projects. He has insisted that his administration acted in good faith and the money was not stolen, as alleged by critics.
The son of revered pro-democracy icons, Aquino won the presidency by a wide margin in 2010 on a pledge to rid his Southeast Asian nation of corruption and widespread poverty.
The Supreme Court ruled early this month that Aquino and his officials violated the constitution when they used the executive branch’s financial savings to augment the funding of other offices outside that branch of government. It said excess, non-allotted funds were withdrawn from some government agencies and were declared as savings even before the end of a fiscal year.
The administration has appealed the court’s ruling.
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