President Benigno Aquino

Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) in the Kingdom believe the impeachment complaint filed against President Benigno Aquino III will not succeed thanks to the 40-percent popularity rate he enjoys.

“President Aquino could easily get the needed number of allies in the lower house of Congress to defeat the impeachment complaint,” they said.

The complaint was filed by former Congressman Augusto Syjuco against Aquino for distributing his discretionary funds to lawmakers that the Supreme Court had ruled illegal.

Syjuco said the complaint was based on three grounds, which include bribery, betrayal of public trust and culpable violation of the constitution. He also questioned Aquino’s discretionary fund action before the Supreme Court.

The votes of 96 out of the 290 members of the lower house of Congress are required to impeach Aquino.

“Detractors of President Aquino, including the militants, are just making noise to show that they’re doing something,” said Benny M. Quimbao, a community leader in Riyadh.

In Buraidah, Qassim, Dionisio B. Tabuco, also a community leader, added, “The complaint filed by Syjuco reflects the kind of politics we have in the country. Syjuco has an ax to grind against the current administration.”

But they also said that Syjuco and other detractors are needed because they make the public officials careful regarding their public actions.

“They are what we call the devil’s advocate. They are the guardians of the public against abusive officials,” they said.

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