MANILA, Philippines — In a turnaround, the Arroyo administration Sunday deferred the suspension of Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay and lifted the freeze order on all but one of the banks holding the funds of the city.
The twin moves on the crucial last week of the election campaign came after the media reported that Binay had asked his supporters to thank President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for ensuring his reelection by harassing him.
Ms Arroyo’s allies had also assailed the timing of the suspension and the freezing of Makati’s assets.
“It’s a case of too little, too late,” Binay said of the latest moves taken by Malacañang.
“It will not change the fact that this regime has again misused the powers of government for political ends at the expense of public welfare,” he said in a statement.
MANILA, Philippines — The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) softened on Sunday its hardline stance against the Makati City government for alleged unpaid taxes by unfreezing the city’s bank accounts not covered by tax claims.
In a press statement, BIR Commissioner Jose Mario Buñag said he ordered the agency’s regional office to limit its freeze order to the amount that covered the tax claim.
“To enable the uninterrupted delivery of basic services to the people of Makati and the payment of salaries of city employees, I have been instructed by the President [Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo] to take the necessary steps to limit the writ of garnishment issued by the Bureau gainst the City of Makati to the amount of unpaid taxes and increments being claimed by the BIR,” he said.
Armed with a suspension order from the Ombudsman, officials of the Interior department on Friday moved to evict Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay from the City Hall, a little over a week before elections.
About 2,000 supporters of Binay, who is heavily tipped to retain his mayoral post in the May 14 polls, quickly gathered outside the new Makati City Hall shortly before 10 p.m. in an outpouring of support for the opposition leader.
It was not immediately clear why the order was being served late at night before the weekend, where the courts — where Binay could challenge the order — are closed.
MANILA, Philippines – The seizure of Makati City’s assets by the Bureau of Internal Revenue to recover P1.1 billion in alleged unpaid taxes could cripple operations at City Hall.
Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay said yesterday utility bills would not be paid along with salaries of city employees, and basic or social services would not be met while the garnishment order is in effect.
“In short, the national government is shutting us down,” he said.
“We’re supposed to release the midterm benefits we promised our workers today. But now, we have to tell them that we don’t have the money,” Binay added.
THE spouse of Makati City Mayor Jejomar Binay could heave a sigh of relief, at least for the next few days.
This developed when two divisions of the Sandiganbayan gave due course to the appeal of Elenita Binay, former mayor of Makati City, to suspend proceedings on her cases now pending before four divisions of the anti-graft court involving the alleged multimillion-peso purchase of overpriced furniture and office partitions from 1999 to 2001.
The first and fifth divisions of the Sandiganbayan have separately conducted hearings on Thursday and both gave the prosecution panel a period of five days beginning Thursday until Tuesday next week to comment on the motion filed by Elenita, a former Makati City mayor.
ROUND 2 has come and gone, and Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay is still standing.
Ten days after the Court of Appeals stopped Malacañang from suspending him, the Sandiganbayan yesterday dismissed the graft charge against the political boss of the country’s financial district in connection with an alleged purchase of overpriced furniture and fittings from 1999 to 2001 for the new Makati City Hall.
The anti-graft court’s Third Division junked the complaint — filed by the Ombudsman — for lack of probable cause even before Binay could be formally arraigned.
CELEBRATING his latest court victory, Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay said on Tuesday that the Sandiganbayan’s dismissal of the graft case filed against him merely confirmed that the charges were baseless.
In a statement issued by his counsel, Binay said the anti-graft court’s decision was in favor of the truth: That the case, filed by the Ombudsman based on the complaint of his political rival, Roberto Brillante, should not have reached the Sandiganbayan in the first place.
FROM sartorial propriety to local autonomy, the issues emerging from the “standoff” between the national government (through the Department of Interior and Local Government, or DILG) and the Makati City government are gathering steam.
The latest news is that Makati’s traffic enforcers, whom suspended Mayor Jejomar Binay has baptized as his “Yellow Army,” are massing up in front of the Makati City Hall to prevent “anyone” from storming the building to forcibly evict Binay, who has refused to vacate his office despite the suspension order imposed on him, his vice mayor and the entire city council.
THE suspension of Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay by Malacañang smacks of political vendetta. The feisty mayor was at the forefront of the “GMA Resign” rallies.
If only for delicadeza, the Palace should have inhibited itself from investigating the complaint against Binay for employing “ghost” workers in the City Hall payroll. That job could have been best left to the Office of the Ombudsman, which is on the side of Malacañang anyway.
Binay’s suspension was a clear message from the Palace to its political enemies: Don’t mess with us.
THE SUSPENSION order against Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay and other city officials was condemned “in the strongest terms” and branded as “illegal” by the opposition on Tuesday as allies of the embattled local executive rushed to his side at the Makati City Hall where he has holed out.
The DILG served the 60-day suspension order against Binay, Vice Mayor Ernesto Mercado and 16 councilors earlier in the day over charges they kept so-called “ghost employees.”
Binay has denied the accusation.
Former president Corazon Aquino, a close friend of Binay, went to the Makati City Hall to show her support for the mayor and urged everyone to “pray for justice.”
