University of the Philippines Prof. Randy David and KME's Bishop Deogracias Yñiguez filed their affidavits with the House Secretary-General's office today and the AKBAYAN representatives in Congress, Rep. Etta Rosales, Mario Aguja and Risa Hontiveros endorsed their complaints.

"We do this as an affirmation of our belief that the legal process will best expose GMA's infractions of our very fundamental law and the disregard with which our principles and beliefs as a democracy in progress were violated," explained Rosales.

"It is an uphill battle," said Aguja, "but we forge onwards with this endeavor because we want to pose a challenge to our lawmakers that the truth is best served in the public eye and not through payouts and backroom deals."

"We therefore challenge our colleagues in the House to let this process see the light of day and not be intimidated or muted again by the sheer tyrrany of numbers," said Hontiveros. "We all want the truth, but we can't find it if we are unable and unwilling to face it first."

David, together with AKBAYAN President Ronald Llamas were arrested at the height of the EDSA Commemoration rallies when GMA issued PP 1017 which is one of the issues being raised in the new impeachment complaint. "The issuance of PP 1017 was not only a violation of the Constitution but a mockery of the very essence of human rights which is the freedom to speak freely and without fear of retaliation from the state," explained Llamas.

"We bring this matter to the legislature with no illusions that the case will shame GMA out of office," Llamas added, but it is enough to bring the message across that the political crisis is not over yet, and the questions of legitimacy and transparency have not been answered at all and they will not go away as long as GMA refuses to heed the citizens' call for an honest and full accounting of her actions, here in Congress or out in the streets.

June 28, 2006

 http://www.akbayan.org

 http://www.labanngmasa.org



AKBAYAN: We demand to know the truth

Akbayan today joins a number of organizations and individuals of the civil society in seeking truth and justice by filing an impeachment complaint against President GMA at the House of Representatives.

Despite the administrations efforts to dismiss allegations of massive electoral fraud in the 2004 Presidential elections, questions of legitimacy arising from the ‘Hello, Garci’ election scandal still cloak the Presidency. They were left unresolved by her mere “I am sorry” speech and bolstered by her repressive measures such as Executive Order 464, Calibrated Preemptive Response (CPR) and Presidential Proclamation 1017, portions of which have been declared by the Supreme Court as illegal and unconstitutional.

We appeal to the members of the House of Representatives to listen the voice of their constituents. The Lower House has lost its integrity when it killed the impeachment last year in an attempt to save the President from accountability to her actions. The people have resorted to parliament in the streets out of exasperation of the administration’s effort to hide the truth. A year has passed, but we again are ready to take on the battle in Congress. We demand to know the truth and hold the President accountable for her illegal actions.

In last year’s impeachment GMA evaded answering allegations of electoral fraud, only to float much larger problems of her administration’s governance. GMA now faces charges of culpable violation of the Constitution and betrayal of public trust for exercising dictatorial powers, committing crimes against humanity with the systematic and widespread killings of political dissidents and journalists to silence criticisms lodged against her, and graft and corruption, by concealing conjugal assets and entering into illegal contracts.

The Administration should not resort to legal hocus pocus to foil the proceedings of the impeachment lest they provoke the ire of the people. We will again be ready to take to the streets, and exercise our political rights if Congress fails us once more.

June 26, 2006

 http://www.akbayan.org

 http://www.labanngmasa.org