Makabayan to take impeachment talks to streets, schools
Bayan secretary general Renato Reyes. — Inquirer file photo
MANILA, Philippines — A strategy for the opposition, should Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial continue to stall, is to bring discussions about the issues faced by the country’s second-highest official to the streets and the schools.
During a press briefing by the Makabayan bloc of lawmakers on Tuesday, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) president Renato Reyes Jr. said that it is only correct for the people to be involved in discussions as they are the most-affected sector as the topic for the impeachment are public funds.
“Definitely we are bringing this case to the people, that’s why we have said that the most important stakeholder and the true victim here in this case is the people, whose funds were stolen or used improperly,” Reyes told reporters in Filipino at the Batasang Pambansa complex.
“So definitely we’re bringing this to the schools, we are bringing this to the parishes, we are bringing this to the communities because this is an issue of the people,” he added.
According to Reyes, the impeachment is not an issue of political dispute — as it is about people not being able to enjoy the benefits of confidential funds allegedly misused by Duterte’s offices.
“Again, it is not an issue or discussion of political disputes. This is a talk about how taxpayers’ funds should be used properly, and how people were deprived of important services and other responsibilities by the government. So that continues, it becomes more urgent now because they do not want to push with the impeachment trial,” he said.
“This is the start of our yearning to reach more people and strengthen support for the impeachment trial,” he added.
Different civil society organizations are mounting a signature campaign asking the Senate to proceed with the impeachment proceedings. As of Tuesday, there are 204 signatories to the petition — including 22 religious leaders, 34 academics and professors, and 55 student leaders from different universities.
Senate President Francis Escudero originally invited the House of Representatives’ prosecution team to present the articles of impeachment before the plenary on Monday, June 2 — with the impeachment proceedings to start supposedly by Tuesday, June 3.
However, last Thursday, Escudero sent another letter to House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez informing that the reading of the articles will be rescheduled to June 11.
This will be the Senate’s last session day, before the 19th Congress closes its session.
Since then, Escudero has taken criticisms from different sectors, including House members, as they believe the rescheduling of the presentation is effectively delaying the impeachment.
READ: Presentation of impeachment articles vs Sara Duterte moved to June 11
According to Kabataan party-list Rep. Raoul Manuel, the Senate not doing anything regarding the impeachment as of now is already a sign of being impartial.
“As of now with the Senate not doing anything, it is already being partial, they are protecting the people who misused the public funds. That’s why they should push through with the trial, since the Duterte camp is actively pushing disinformation to protect the image of the impeached Vice President,” he said.
“They are afraid that the impeachment trial would push through because it is a platform for prosecutors to raise the bases of the articles of impeachment, it is a chance to explain to the people how the funds were spent and how it was misused,” he added.
Duterte was impeached last February 5 after House lawmakers verified a fourth complaint hinged on alleged misuse of confidential funds (CF) lodged in her offices, and threats to high-ranking officials including President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos, and House Speaker Romualdez.
The fourth complaint was a combination of the first three impeachment raps filed by groups — which included findings of the House committee on good government and public accountability, which showed issues on the CF expenditures.
During the course of the hearings, lawmakers discovered weird names signing off acknowledgement receipts (ARs) for the confidential expenses made by Duterte’s offices.
ARs are submitted to the Commission on Audit to prove that funding for projects reached its intended beneficiaries, which in this case, are confidential informants.
Antipolo City 2nd District Rep. Romeo Acop noticed that one of the individuals who signed the ARs was named Mary Grace Piattos — a name similar to a restaurant and a potato chip brand.
Later on, Lanao del Sur 1st District Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong showed two ARs — one for the Office of the Vice President and another for the Department of Education — which were both received by a certain Kokoy Villamin. However, the signatures and handwriting used by Villamin in the two documents differed.
Neither name was found in the Philippine Statistics Authority database. /das
