Cayetano wants to smoke peace pipe with Binay

After days of waging a word war in the media following clashes between their personnel, Taguig Mayor Lani Cayetano on Sunday reached out to Makati Mayor Jejomar Erwin Binay Jr., saying she  hoped “there [would] be peace and friendship between us again.”

In a statement, Cayetano said she wanted to fix the ties between the two cities that were marred by the July 30 ruling of the Court of Appeals which awarded jurisdiction over seven villages in Taguig, including Bonifacio Global City (BGC), to Makati.

“We ask Mayor Binay to renew our friendship and the camaraderie between our cities that have been strained by the territorial dispute over Fort Bonifacio,” she added.

Cayetano urged Binay to set aside their  differences, saying the people of Taguig and Makati were essentially “brothers and sisters” but at the same time, she asked him to wait for a “final court ruling on the matter.”

The Taguig mayor said her government had filed a motion for reconsideration in the appellate court which, according to her, automatically suspended the execution of the ruling which handed jurisdiction over the 729-hectare Fort Bonifacio to Makati City.

“All of these support our actions to maintain the status quo in Fort Bonifacio,” she told Binay.

“For now, let us promote peace and order in our respective cities and among our people. Let us avoid actions that will result in possible clashes and danger to our respective police forces and our peace and order personnel,” she said.

She went on to say that she hoped Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II’s statement had cleared the issue of which among the two cities had jurisdiction, at least as far as the police were concerned, over Fort Bonifacio.

No more tension

“We hope that no more tension arises from any statement or act from any party regarding the matter as the [Department of the Interior and Local Government] chief himself delineated all jurisdictional issues,” Cayetano said.

However, on Saturday, Binay lashed out at Roxas, saying his statement was “erroneous, flawed and politically motivated.”

This was after the DILG chief said on Friday that the police force of both cities should observe the status quo, meaning, the Taguig police would continue to be in charge of maintaining peace and order in the disputed area.

Roxas was defeated by Binay’s father, Jejomar Binay, in the 2010 race for the vice presidency.  This early, the two are seen as rivals in the 2016 presidential elections.

According to Cayetano, she and the younger Binay should be attending to the needs of their respective constituents instead of engaging in a bitter territorial dispute over Fort Bonifacio.

Cayetano said that there was no compelling reason to justify a forceful and immediate execution of the appellate court’s ruling since “Makati does not really need BGC [at] the moment as its budget exceeds the needs of its people.”

The Inquirer tried to get a reaction from Mayor Binay but was told by Joey Salgado, Makati information officer, that they would issue a statement today.

In previous interviews, the younger Binay had referred to the Cayetanos as family friends. His sister, Makati Rep. Abigail Binay, is a close friend of Cayetano who also served as Taguig representative before she ran for mayor of the city.

Binay earlier threatened to file contempt charges against Chief Supt. Marcelo Garbo Jr. and other officers of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) for their refusal to comply with the appellate court’s ruling.

“We will take them to court. The NCRPO is duty-bound to enforce the decision of the Court of Appeals. Their refusal to do so can be seen as open defiance of the court,” he said.

NCRPO deputy director for administration Chief Supt. Pat Hernandez was quoted last week as saying that Fort Bonifacio, including BGC, would remain under the control of the Taguig City police,  pending a directive from the Philippine National Police.

NCRPO spokesperson Chief Insp. Robert Domingo also confirmed the announcement, saying they would observe the status quo.