Interior Secretary Mar Roxas. RYAN LEAGOGO/INQUIRER.net
Interior Secretary Mar Roxas urged Makati Mayor Junjun Binay to step aside.
“This is not a telenovela or a drama about your family lording it over Makati City. This is about the rule of law which says you are suspended by the Ombudsman,” he told reporters.
“You don’t own Makati City, Mayor Binay. No one is king here except the law. We will implement the law… If you want to say anything, do so before the courts,” said Roxas, the likely presidential candidate of the ruling Liberal Party in next year’s elections.
“You are not special. Many officials have been suspended before. You are only putting on a show; your constituents are getting hurt and transactions are halted,” he said.
LGUs ‘not kingdoms’
Roxas urged the elder Binay, who has announced he is running for President next year, to advise his son to follow the rule of law. “No one is above the law, thus any person who shall unjustly impede the valid and lawful exercise of government function shall be dealt with in accordance with the rule of law,” he said.
Justice Secretary Leila de Lima denounced the mayor for “fomenting lawlessness and chaos” during the serving of the suspension order by the police and DILG officials.
“The incident was aired live on television and with the videos taken it is most probable that charges will be filed against those shown directly assaulting police officers and obstructing justice,” De Lima said in a statement.
“We will also recommend to the DILG the possible initiation of administrative charges for insubordination, and possibly even criminal charges against Mayor Binay,” she said.
“No public official can treat any local government unit as his own kingdom and government office as a royal entitlement. Our local governments are still a part of our republican government. They are not kingdoms unto themselves and their mayors should not act like petty kings who can disregard the law with impunity,” said De Lima, a likely administration senatorial candidate who herself is facing contempt charges for ignoring a temporary restraining order (TRO) issued by a court in the case of detained former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Follow rule of law
The President’s communications secretary, Herminio Coloma Jr., dismissed suggestions that Malacañang was harassing the Binays.
“It is important to follow the rule of all. All elected and proclaimed government officials took an oath to follow legal directives,” Coloma said in a press briefing.
“The government continues to call for the exercise of order and rule of law to ensure the continuous flow of public service,” he said. “Our government primarily attends to the welfare of the state and our people. We are not engaging in politics here.”
Sen. Aquilino Pimentel III, chair of the Senate blue ribbon subcommittee, announced Tuesday that he would investigate allegations made by Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV that justices of the Court of Appeals were bribed in their issuance of a TRO on the first suspension order issued by the Ombudsman in March in connection with the investigation into the alleged overpriced Makati City Hall Building II.
The subcommittee has held 21 hearings into allegations of corruption against the Binays and has issued a partial report recommending the filing of charges against them.–With a report from Nikko Dizon
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