MANILA: Philippine authorities have moved to file corruption charges against two top politicians, including an ally of President Benigno Aquino, the justice secretary said, as part of a massive graft scandal that has embroiled numerous officials.
The justice department has asked a special anti-corruption body to file charges against Joel Villanueva, a former congressman who is now Aquino’s top adviser on vocational education, and Senator Gregorio Honasan, an ex-military colonel who plotted failed coups against Aquino’s mother, former president Corazon Aquino, according to Justice Secretary Leila de Lima.