Impeachment case vs. Aquino won't prosper, say solons

An impeachment case filed against President Benigno Aquino III may not prosper, lawmakers said.

Marcos loyalist Oliver Lozano reportedly filed an impeachment case, the first for Aquino, for refusing to provide state honors for the burial of the late former president Ferdinand Marcos.

“I doubt if it will fly in the House and if it is an impeachable ground. In fact, I even doubt if my father, the principal author of the resolution on Marcos’ burial will endorse the complaint,” said Senator Francis Escudero.
Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago said the case won't be taken seriously too.

“I don’t think anyone takes it seriously,” Santiago said.

“There’s a prayer of hope in the House of Representatives, which is divided into political power blocks, if at least one group expresses support. But if there’s no support expressed at all then there’s even not a prayer that it will succeed.”

The Palace has also reportedly issued a statement brushing off the impeachment case. “The complaint is utterly baseless.

Lozano is known to be an eager filer of impeachment complaints. From 2005 to 2008, he has consistently charged former president now Pampanga representative Gloria Macapagal Arroyo with impeachment cases in connection with the “Hello, Garci” scandal.

Lozano filed the complaint before Congress earlier this week, for Aquino’s alleged violation of the equal protection clause of the Constitution and betrayal of public trust.

Lozano said Aquino violated the equal protection clause when he refused to give military honors for the burial of Marcos, a former head of state and whom the military had already recognized as a war veteran.

“If other lower ranking military officers were buried with military honors, President Marcos is also entitled to be buried with military honors,” the complaint said as quoted in a report.

Aquino earlier dismissed a hero's burial for Marcos.

But the Marcos loyalist insisted that the opposition of so-called human rights victims is not a legal ground to deny a former head of state and war veteran the rights accorded to him by the Constitution.

Lozano said Aquino betrayed public trust when he disregarded the recommendation of Vice President Jejomar Binay who was ordered by Aquino to conduct public consultations and studies on the proposed military honors for Marcos.

Convinced that his case is a ground for impeachment, the lawyer will send copies of the impeachment complaint to each of the 200 members of the House of Representatives.

He said he expects some of the 200 lawmakers, who signed a resolution calling for the state burial for Marcos, to endorse the impeachment complaint.