Makati Mayor Jejomar Erwin “Junjun” Binay. INQUIRER PHOTO/RAFFY LERMA
MANILA, Philippines—Quasi-MARtial law.
This was how Makati Mayor Jejomar Erwin “Junjun” Binay described the prevailing situation in the city in a press conference in the Makati City Hall on Tuesday.
Binay said this was because the Department of the Interior and Local Government led by Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas continued to “create tension” in the city despite the issuance of a 60-day temporary restraining order by the Court of Appeals on the enforcement of the suspension order issued by the Ombudsman against him.
Every time he would say the term martial law, Binay would excessively put stress on the first syllable in an apparent dig at Roxas.
“Ang nakakalungkot ay parang merong MARtial law dito sa Makati. Parang martial law dahil trak-trak ng mga pulis ang dumarating. And you have Colonel Jamias lording over the city government. Kailangan ho bang umikot-ikot pa si Colonel Jamias na pinalilibutan ng mga pulis na may mga dalang armalite?” Binay asked.
(It’s saddening that there seems like a martial law in Makati. It seems like a martial law because truckloads of police would come here. And you have Colonel Jamias lording over the city government. Is it necessary for Colonel Jamias to make rounds with policemen carrying armalites?)
Jamias is the ground commander in the Makati City hall grounds and the deputy district for administration of the Southern Police District.
He said his stint as mayor was not interrupted and that Vice Mayor Romulo Peña Jr. “never at any instance became mayor of this city” because of the CA ruling.
He said he would sign all pertinent documents in his capacity as mayor and would hold a department heads meeting.
The meeting with department heads, which is off-limits to media, is still ongoing.
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