Binay urged by foe, ally to quit Aquino Cabinet now

Caloocan Rep. Edgar Erice. FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines – So what’s holding back Vice President Jejomar Binay from bolting the Aquino administration just like resigned Akbayan Rep. Walden Bello?

Two lawmakers from both sides of the political fence are urging Binay to do a “Bello” and cut his ties with the President especially after he and his family have accused the administration of engineering the suspension of  Mayor Jejomar Erwin “Junjun” Binay Jr.

Caloocan Rep. Edgar Erice, a vocal critic of the Vice President, said: “The Binays sound like a broken record. They always attribute to politics and to the Liberal Party all the corruption charges against them. What about the truth and the facts?”

Erice pointed out that Binay himself had urged his accusers of corruption to file charges against him in the proper court rather than in the Senate blue ribbon subcommittee, which has held more than a dozen hearings on the alleged overpriced P2.28-billion Makati City Hall Building II, a car park cum office building.

“Now that the Ombudsman has decided against them, they are saying that the administration is using the Ombudsman. If the Binays believe that everything is the handiwork of the administration, what is he doing in the Cabinet of President Aquino? He should resign now,” Erice said.

Binay is the head of the government’s housing and overseas Filipino workers portfolio.

Buhay Rep. Lito Atienza said the Vice President should take the suspension of his son as his cue to quit the Aquino administration.

Atienza said: “I think the time has come for him to quit the government and lead the opposition full time. This is already too much, a slap in the face.”

Atienza said that the “railroading” of Junjun’s six-month suspension showed “the lengths the Aquino administration would take to harass his family.”

“I don’t think this is the final straw. But should he (Vice President) wait for the final straw before resigning? I don’t think so, because I believe the worst is yet to come,” said Atienza who was expected to run for senator under Binay’s party, the United Nationalist Alliance.

Both Erice and Atienza said that Binay should emulate Bello who decided to quit his seat in Congress because his views against the President were in conflict with the party-list group’s stand.

Deputy Majority Leader and Makati Rep. Abigail Binay said her family would fight the “wrong order” issued by the Ombudsman.

“It’s sad that the government is using government agencies to harass our family,” Binay said in a text message.