House opposition may endorse impeachment case vs P-Noy

MANILA, Philippines - The opposition in the House of Representatives may endorse the impeachment complaint against President Aquino after all.

Minority Leader Danilo Suarez said yesterday the minority bloc in the House of Representatives would review the impeachment complaint filed by Oliver Lozano and Danilo Lihaylihay.

“We want to endorse an airtight case against President Aquino,” Suarez told The STAR in a telephone interview.

Last Thursday, Suarez said there was no ground to impeach the President. He said he would recommend to his minority colleagues to just ignore Lihaylihay’s complaint, which he also described as a “non-issue.”

“It is a relic which should be consigned to the archives rather than exhumed as a possible ground for impeachment of President Aquino since it is bereft of legal and factual anchorage,” Lagman said earlier of Lihaylihay’s complaint.

Lihaylihay claimed Aquino betrayed public trust for committing “massive tax fraud” for the P500-million sale of the 3.4-hectare government property known as Governor’s Park located along Session Road in Baguio City.

Lihaylihay asked Suarez to endorse the complaint.

Meanwhile, the Lozano complaint accused the President of betrayal of public trust when he denied military burial for the late President Ferdinand Marcos despite the recommendation by Vice President Jejomar Binay and a congressional resolution for a hero’s burial for the late president.

Lozano also accused Aquino of culpable violation of the Constitution for defying through an order of Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, a temporary restraining order (TRO) issued by the Supreme Court on the watchlist order (WLO) against former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

“The TRO is immediately executory. Its immediate legal effect is that the WLO is non-existent,” Lozano said.

Lozano had expressed optimism that the minority bloc would incorporate his complaint with that of Lihaylihay’s for transmittal to the House committee on justice.