MANILA, Philippines—Vice President Jejomar Binay’s criticisms against the Aquino administration has incurred the ire of an ally of President Benigno Aquino III at the House of Representatives who urged him not to be a “two-timer” for continuing to stay in the Cabinet if he thought the government was going in the wrong direction.
In a statement Tuesday, Caloocan Representative Edgar Erice even quoted a neophytes’ pledge by Binay’s college fraternity, the Alpha Phi Omega, from a poem by Elbert Hubbard:
“If you work for a man, in heaven’s name work for him. Speak well of him and stand by the institution he represents. Remember an ounce of loyalty is worth a pound of cleverness. If you growl, condemn and eternally find fault, resign your position. And when you are outside, damn to your hearts’ content. But for as long as you are part of the institution, do not condemn it. If you do, the first high wind that comes along will blow you away, and you will probably never know why,” said Erice quoting the poem.
Caloocan Representative Edgar Erice and Vice President Jejomar Binay (inset). INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
Erice said: “If Binay cannot abide by Hubbard’s advice, then the logical thing to do is quit his Cabinet post, as what I have asked him to do. There is no sense and acting as a team player one minute only to blast the Aquino government in the next minute.”
Erice’s call came a day after the President challenged Binay to resign from his Cabinet if he thought that his administration was not pursuing the straight path (tuwid na daan).
Erice, a partymate of Aquino at the Liberal Party but not a member of the APO fraternity, slammed Binay for allegedly failing to control his allies who have persistently criticized the administration.
Erice said Binay should resign from the Cabinet instead of being a “two-timer.”
Amid a Senate investigation looking into allegations of corruption in Makati City when he was mayor, Binay was forced to lash back against the administration.
Binay had criticized the government’s Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP), parts of which were declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.
Binay also slammed the administration for going soft on Philippine National Police Director General Alan Purisima despite allegations of false declarations of wealth and plunder, as well as for being harsh on former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who is under hospital detention for plunder.
Instead of being critical, Erice urged Binay “to be true to himself, to others and to Alpha Phi Omega.”
“If he cannot be firm in loyalty and could never be faithful and ever striving for the Aquino administration, then the morally correct action to take is to resign,” Erice said.
Like other Cabinet officials, Binay is being subjected to a “performance audit” as presidential adviser on overseas Filipino workers and head of the Housing and Urban Development and Coordinating Council.
Aquino had said Binay was “free to leave… if he thinks we’re going in the wrong direction.” He added that he hasn’t heard the Vice President give solutions during Cabinet meetings.
“The President himself has said that Binay, like other Cabinet members, is free to resign his post. There is no sense pretending that you are loyal to the President and the administration when you want to earn political brownie points by attacking the government that Mr. Aquino heads,” Erice stressed.
Erice has been critical of Binay and his party, the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA), and has been engaged in a debate about the vice president with UNA interim president Toby Tiangco in the lower chamber’s plenary.
Erice also floated the idea of filing an impeachment complaint against Binay.
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