Video by Ryan Leagogo
MANILA, Philippines—It’s high school mentality.
That was the reaction of Interior Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas II after the camp of Makati Mayor Jejomar Erwin “Junjun” Binay challenged Roxas to personally serve Binay’s suspension order.
United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) interim president and Navotas Rep. Toby Tiangco has challenged Roxas to personally issue the suspension order.
“Ano ba ito, parang sa high school?” Roxas told reporters in a press briefing Friday.
“High school adolescent perspective. Seryoso ito. In fact, nakikita ngayon ng sambayanan yung uri ng pagiisip nitong mga nagsa-suggest ng ganito,” he said.
Roxas said governance was a serious matter and the “drama” at the Makati City Hall was paralyzing government transactions.
“How many people are not able to transact because of this drama?” he said in a mix of Filipino and English.
But Binay’s camp on Friday said operations at the city hall remained normal although admitted it was “slow” amid the mayor’s suspension.
Since his suspension was issued by the Ombudsman on Wednesday, March 11, the mayor has remained holed up inside his office.
“Are we a government of laws? Or are there those exempted from the laws?” Roxas said.
“Nire-recognize ba natin ang Ombudsman as an independent authority or hindi? Ang batas ay ang batas,” he said.
He said the Ombudsman had issued a preventive suspension order based on enough evidence and the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) would do its duty to implement the “immediately executable” order.
‘Ordinary course of business’
“Gagawin lang namin ang aming trabaho. Di ko gustong palakihin ito dahil ordinary course of business lang ito,” he said.
Supporters of the suspended mayor remain at the premises of the city hall to show their support for the mayor.
Strict security procedures were implemented at the city hall as entrance doors were closed except for one, which was guarded by security offices.
Amid the drama, Roxas asked the public to remain calm.
Reacting to Roxas’ “high school” remark, Mayor Binay said he expected a “little bit of maturity” on the part of the secretary.
“For me that’s uncalled for. Let’s not resort to name calling and nitpicking,” he said.
On Friday, the Court of Appeals has raffled the motion for a temporary restraining order filed by the camp of Binay.
“We will wait and hope that our request will be granted,” he said in Filipino.
On Friday, no suspension order was served against Binay.
The mayor said he won’t leave the city hall.
He turned teary eyed when he mentioned that he won’t be able to attend a school program of his son on Monday, March 16, since he won’t leave the city hall.
“I hope my son will understand,” he said.
He said the suspension, according to their sources, is just the first part of a “series of cases” to eliminate the whole city council and let an officer in charge take over.
“This is the template they want,” he said, citing the same scenario happened to his father in 2006.
READ: In the know: Gov’t officials who defied suspension orders