Expect this case to get brushed off by the Palace. (But we thin it’s rather serious.)
“President Noynoy Aquino is facing a libel suit before the Office of the Ombudsman filed by the former chief of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) Augusto Syjuco Jr., who is also a former Iloilo representative,” reports Rio N. Araja in Manila Standard Today.
Syjuco was quoted as saying, “Since the President hurled the malicious accusation against me (during his State-of-the-Nation Address in July 2013), he should be prepared to defend himself before the Office of the Ombudsman. The President is not above the law. No one is above the law, not even the President, especially not the President.”
The report noted that “Aquino had accused Syjuco of being behind the overpriced purchase of incubator jars, dough cutters, and other cooking utensils.”
Syjuco added, that “the delivery of a SONA is a presidential duty under the 1987 Constitution and should not be regarded as an official act.”
“His attack on me was not only unpresidential, it was extremely personal,” Syjuco claimed.
Screengrab from a GMA News video
