Aquino administration out to oust oppositors from govt – lawmaker

The impeachment moves against Chief Justice Renato Corona is revealing the Aquino administration's "bad design" to drive all its oppositors out of the government, an opposition lawmaker said Monday.   Deputy Minority Leader Danilo Suarez said the Aquino administration is “treading on dangerous grounds” in trying to remove from their positions all officials who go against its policies.   “The design is very clear. It is either you are with them or against them. If you are against them, they will destabilize you, destroy you and drive you out of your position,” he said in a phone interview.   Suarez said the impeachment move against Corona is very similar to what administration allies did to former Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez, who resigned days before she was scheduled to face an impeachment trial at the Senate last May.   The opposition leader made this statement after more than 170 members of the House majority approved an impeachment complaint against Corona for alleged betrayal of public trust, graft and corruption and culpable violation of the Constitution.   The chief magistrate, who was appointed by former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, however, said that he will not leave his post despite plans to oust him. Malacañang, for its part, said Aquino has nothing to do with the move to impeach Corona.   Railroaded?   Suarez said he was “surprised” by the supposed railroading of the approval of the impeachment complaint against Corona. “Normally, we have a process, pero hindi na ito ginawa. This is really not good,” he said.   House Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales II, however, said that the ruling coalition did not violate any law in its swift action on Corona’s impeachment case.   “We complied with what is provided for the Constitution… Under the rules and the Constitution, pwede naman talagang mag-direct filing sa Senate. Iyon ang nangyari,” he said at a press conference.   He added that the House will formalize Corona’s impeachment at the plenary on Monday night for the complaint to be immediately transmitted to the Senate.   Under House rules, an impeachment complaint has to be approved by one-third of all House members—in this case, 95 lawmakers—for it to be able to be transmitted straight to the Senate for trial. — Andreo C. Calonzo/KBK, GMA News