Impeachment raps filed against Aquino
Perennial filer of impeachment complaint Oliver Lozano is back at the game.
This time, Lozano wants to see an impeachment complaint filed against President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III for his alleged refusal to recognize Chief Justice Renato Corona as the head of a co-equal branch of government – the judiciary.
But Lozano said he is not thinking of filing the case himself but instead wants the Office of the Ombudsman to seek Aquino’s ouster in his behalf.
Lozano said Aquino’s apparent snub of Corona during last Wednesday’s inaugural ceremony is strong evidence of the chief executive’s refusal to acknowledge the SC chief justice as head of the judiciary.
Lozano said that after greeting dignitaries by mentioning their names when he delivered his inaugural speech, Aquino failed to mention Corona.
He said Aquino also appeared to have ignored Corona as the chief justice by preferring to be sworn into office by Associate Justice Conchita Carpio Morales, who had applied for the post occupied by Corona.
These acts, Lozano insisted, are violations of the Constitution and could be considered as impeachable offenses.
“His (Aquino) refusal to recognize the presence of Chief Justice Renato Corona is an extension of his refusal to acknowledge him as the head of the judiciary. That is why we filed a test case of impeachment so that he can be accorded the fair opportunity to explain this mockery of the Supreme Court,” the veteran lawyer said.




