UST Law student council backs impeachment bid vs. PNoy

The student council of the University of Santo Tomas' (UST) Faculty of Civil Law has expressed its support for the impeachment of President Benigno Aquino III.

 

In a statement posted on its Facebook page on Thursday, the UST Civil Law student council said they believe the President should be impeached "in order to be held accountable for the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP)." 

 

At present, three impeachment complaints have been filed against Aquino at the House of Representatives, two of which are related to DAP. 
 

The UST Law student council said DAP "sets a very dangerous precedent that spits on the checks-and-balance guarantee" in government, adding that they "are disgusted" that Aquino "continues to use the sufferings of our people to justify illegal disbursements of our money."

 

"We find no reason why the DAP projects could not have stood scrutiny through legislation and be formalized in the annual General Appropriations Act or in a supplemental budget law," their statement said. "That these projects did not stand such legislative deliberation casts great doubt on the unilateral execution of DAP-funded projects."

 

They also expressed concern over the fact that most of these projects have not been audited by the Commission on Audit.

The Supreme Court earlier declared as unconstitutional some portions of the DAP. Malacañang has appealed the SC decision on the controversial spending mechanism, maintaining that it was undertaken in good faith.

No unified stand yet

 

In a text message to GMA News Online, student council president Victor Villanueva said they held an assembly with the class presidents Thursday before releasing officially the statement.

He added that while individual support has been aired by some members of the UST community, there is no unified stand on the issue yet.

 

"There are efforts to convince [administration] officials, from CSC (Central Student council) to OSA (Office of Student Affairs) to the [Dominican] fathers [in UST] to take a stand for good governance in general, and against DAP and pork barrel in particular, and response has been favorable, buut they give their support as individuals," said Villanueva, who is also a national convenor for Youth for Accountability and Truth Now (Youth ACT Now), an alliance of youth and student organizations, publications, and councils.

 

"[We're] still working on a collective stand or activity for [the] entire UST community to take part in," he added. — RSJ, GMA News