Vice President Jejomar Binay. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / NINO JESUS ORBETA
Vice President Jejomar Binay on Monday said he was bracing for more political intrigues against him, this time with his detractors using government agencies like the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) to vilify him.
Binay made the statement as the Senate blue ribbon subcommittee was set to resume its hearings next week on alleged corrupt activities during Binay’s stint as mayor of Makati City.
Senator Antonio Trillanes IV had said that the subcommittee might resume its hearings on April 13. But Binay’s spokesperson Joey Salgado said they heard there will be two Senate hearings this month and another in May.
“We anticipate that they (detractors) will intensify their efforts using other agencies of government,” Binay said in a statement.
He said he expected that they would continue to discredit him “in the Senate and through agencies like the Commission on Audit (COA), Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), Ombudsman and the AMLC.”
Narrow-minded objective
“Their narrow-minded objective is simply to vilify and embarrass me without even any factual basis to support their claims… This is why I am reminding our people: the lies against me will continue, using the Senate and different agencies of the government. They will continue to try and destroy your strong support for me,” Binay said.
Navotas Representative Toby Tiangco, who is interim president of Binay’s United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) party, said part of the script of the Vice President’s detractors was the recent move taken by the AMLC to go to the Court of Appeals so it could open the bank accounts of Binay and his family.
Nothing irregular
“This was in order for them to complete their story against the Vice President… They want to make up a story that there were huge amounts on those accounts,” Tiangco said in a phone interview.
“We are confident there is nothing irregular in the accounts of the Vice President and his family,” he added.
In his statement, Binay also lamented that “the law is now being perverted in pursuit of their selfish desire to remain in power.”
The Vice President was apparently referring to the ongoing controversy his son, Makati City Mayor Jejomar Erwin “Junjun” Binay is facing after President Aquino’s officials allowed Binay’s vice mayor to assume the mayoralty position when the younger Binay was suspended by the Ombudsman.
Still, Binay said he would continue to work and alleviate the plight of the poor.
“I will not be hindered by a few from our shared goal of establishing a government serving the people with sincerity, proven competence, and compassion. I am ready to fight their continued attacks if it means being able to serve the Filipino people,” he said.
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