Binay not interested in DILG post – spokesperson

Vice President Jejomar Binay. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines— Vice President Jejomar Binay was not interested in taking the post left vacant by the late Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo, his spokesman said Tuesday.

“VP Binay [is] not interested in DILG post, would rather continue to work in housing and assisting OFWs. Hoping this ends all baseless speculation,” Joey Salgado, spokesperson for the Binay camp said in his twitter account.

In a text message, Salgado said that his twitter post was in reaction to a story that came out in the Philippine Daily Inquirer Tuesday saying that Binay, also the chairman of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council and presidential adviser on OFW concerns, was the supposed “bet of the Samar faction.”

The article in the Inquirer noted that the rivalry between the Balay and Samar groups, two factions in President Benigno Aquino III’s Cabinet, has resurfaced because of the vacancy in the DILG post. The nation mourned the death of Robredo in a plane crash in Masbate last August 18.

Reports mentioned Binay’s name as one of those allegedly being considered to take the DILG post as he had been vocal about his interest for the position in 2010.

Aside from Binay, Senator Panfilo Lacson, and members of the Liberal Party (LP), including Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim, Cavite Representative Joseph Emilio Abaya, former Isabela governor Grace Padaca, and Davao Vice Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, were being floated as likely to take over the DILG post.

Originally posted at 01:18 pm | August 28, 2012