Minority solons say time is not ripe for Aquino impeachment

The time is not right for an impeachment complaint against President Benigno Aquino III, militant lawmakers said Wednesday.

At a press briefing, 1-BAP party-list Rep. Silvestre Bello III said what Sen. Ramon Bong Revilla Jr. bared in his privilege speech Monday could not be used as a strong basis for an impeachment complaint against the President.

“Right now, it is not right for any possible (impeachment) complaint kasi 'yung statement ni Sen. Revilla remains uncorroborated,” he said.

He was referring to Revilla's statement that Aquino, at a breakfast meeting in 2012, personally asked him to vote for the conviction of then-Chief Justice Renato Corona, who was then facing a Senate impeachment court.

Revilla, a respondent in a plunder complaint in connection with the pork barrel scam, said Interior Sec. Mar Roxas even drove him to Aquino's residence, Bahay Pangarap at the Malacañang complex, for a meeting before Corona's impeachment trial concluded. Budget Sec. Butch Abad was also allegedly present during the meeting.

Roxas, a former senator, admitted driving Revilla but said it was a favor to the senator, whom he said had things to take up with Aquino.

Impropriety

Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Carlos Zarate said Aquino’s meetings with Revilla and other senators reeks of impropriety since the President was known to be “very much interested” in the outcome of Corona's impeachment trial.

“Sa tingin ko merong impropriety doon  [because] the president, who is very much interested in the impeachment—in the ouster of a sitting Chief Justice—ay nakipag-usap sa isang senator-judge. So merong inpropriety doon at alam naman natin na under the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices, bawal yung ganoon,” he said.

Zarate said Aquino’s explanation that he just wanted to “lessen” the pressure on the senators was a “very weak” excuse since he is the highest official in the country.

“Kailangang maging accountable siya doon dahil hindi naman siya ordinaryong opisyal [at] hindi siya parang ordinary litigant na nakipag-usap sa isang huwes at nakikiusap na galingan niyo yung trabaho niyo diyan,” he said.

In a separate interview, Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Neri Colmenares said Aquino’s decision to meet with the senators tarnished the victory of the prosecutors who worked hard to convict Corona.

“What President Aquino did was to precisely sully the victory of the prosecution. There is now a smear of suspicion that he influenced the Senate,” he said. — KBK, GMA News