You're not special,' Mar tells Junjun
MANILA – Interior Secretary Mar Roxas on Tuesday told suspended Makati Mayor Junjun Binay to abide by the Office of the Ombudsman's preventive suspension order, saying he does not own Makati.
Roxas said the Makati mayor seems to think that he is special in the eyes of the law.
''Anong pinagkaiba ni Mayor Binay sa ibang opisyal na sinususpinde ng Ombudsman?" he said.
''Si Mayor Binay espesyal lang siya sa tatay niya, hind siya espesyal sa batas," he added, referring to Vice-President Jejomar Binay who defeated Roxas in the 2010 election.
Roxas reminded the mayor that the approval of a suspension order – be it preventive or punitive - is one of the jobs of the Ombudsman.
''Nagkakaroon lang ng drama dahil siguro ayaw bumitiw sa kinalalagyan si Binay,'' Roxas said.
The interior secretary also urged Binay to stop using his supporters in his bid to stay in power.
''Hindi po niyo pagmamay-ari ang Makati, Mayor Binay. Walang naghahari-hari dito kundi ang batas. Batas ang ating ipinapatupad at iyan lang din naman po ang ginagawa ng DILG at PNP,'' he said.
Roxas said Vice-Mayor Romulo Peña is now the acting mayor of the city, following the latter's oath taking before Assistant City Prosecutor Julius Ceasar Gaurano.
SECOND SUSPENSION
After a brief scuffle between Binay's supporters, policeman and DILG representatives, the suspension order was posted at the Makati City Hall on Tuesday morning.
This is the second suspension against Binay, who was earlier ordered suspended to give way for an investigation into the allegedly overpriced Makati City Hall Building II.
Mayor Binay managed to stay in power after the Court of Appeals issued a halt order against the first suspension order.
The suspension case is now with the Supreme Court, after the Office of the Ombudsman questioned the appellate court's action of issuing a halt order on the suspension order.
The new suspension order for Binay is in connection with his supposed role in the alleged rigging of bidding for the Makati Science High School building project.
The camp of Mayor Binay has filed a petition against the second suspension order. It was raffled off to the CA's 10th Division.
Mayor Binay and 14 other Makati officials were ordered suspended by the Ombudsman.
Aside from Mayor Binay, the 14 Makati officials ordered suspended are Pio Kenneth Ilando Dasal, Lorenza Punzalan Amores, Norman Domingo Flores, Leonila De Guzman Querijero, Cecilio P. Lim III, Nelia Argana Barlis, Giovanni Ilio Condes, Ralph Encela Liberato, Ulysses Estanislao Orienza, Manolito N. Uyaco, Gerardo Kangleon San Gabriel, Raydes Barias Pestaño, Eleno Monasterial Mendoza Jr., and Mario Valenzuela Badillo.
source: www.abs-cbnnews.com
