STATEMENT ON THE DUE CAUSES FOR THE REMOVAL OF RICHARD GORDON AS THE CHAIRMAN OF THE SUBIC BAY METROPOLITAN AUTHORITY (SBMA)
Press Conference at PREDA Center
Monday, July 13, 1998
Richard Gordon should be replaced as chairman of the SBMA for due cause. There are many ‘due causes’ why he should be replaced and prosecuted. Here are a few of them as compiled and documented by the PREDA Foundation, Inc.
MANILA, Philippines – (UPDATE) Vowing to take the fight outside the country’s financial district, Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay announced his bid for the presidency on Tuesday as he marked his 66th birthday in city hall.
More than 2,000 supporters from the city and the provinces carrying streamers like “Obama of the Philippines” and “Jojo Binay for President” gathered at 7 a.m. for a Thanksgiving Mass as they waited for the mayor to make the declaration.
In his speech, Binay, who is also the United Opposition president, criticized the Arroyo government by bringing up issues like the national broadband network scandal and the fertilizer fund scam and said there was need for another “revolution.”
One of the Philippines’ top opposition politicians, Makati City Mayor Jejomar Binay, barricaded himself in his office on Tuesday hours after the government issued an order suspending him and his entire city administration from office.
As supporters of the mayor gathered outside his headquarters, police in Metro Manila were placed on alert in anticipation of possible violence. The entire affair is being shown live on television.
“This is pure harassment,” the fiery Binay told radio stations in successive interviews as the crisis began and police ringed the city hall of the country’s wealthiest enclave. The Department of the Interior and Local Government accuses Binay and other local officials of keeping so-called “ghost employees” on the municipal payroll in order to pocket their salaries. Binay, a one-time human rights lawyer, denies the charge.
