Jejomar “Jojo” C. Binay (November 11, 1942) is the current mayor of the City of Makati in the Philippines. He is also the president of the United Opposition (UNO), National President of Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Laban (PDP-Laban) and National President of the Boy Scouts of the Philippines.

Background

Jejomar Cabauatan Binay was born in Paco, Manila but grew up in Makati with his uncle, Ponciano, after Binay’s parents – Diego Medrano Binay of Bauan, Batangas and Lourdes Cabauatan of Cabagan, Isabela – passed away.

At a young age, Binay learned to rely on his resourcefulness and determination. He went around his neighborhood to gather slop for his uncle’s backyard piggery, looked after his uncle’s fighting cocks, and went to market daily.

Education and early career

As he grew up, Binay took on more odd jobs to support his studies.

Binay is a product of the Philippine public school system. He studied at the Philippine Normal College Training Department, University of the Philippines Preparatory High School and despite financial constraints, earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and Bachelor of Laws from UP (LIB). In 1960, he joined Alpha Phi Omega International Service Fraternity in the University of the Philippines (Eta Chapter).

He passed the bar exams in 1968, and took masteral subjects in public administration and law in UP and the University of Sto. Tomas, respectively.

In between jobs and earning degrees, Binay gave lectures and taught law, political science and public administration at the then Philippine College of Commerce (now, Polytechnic University of the Philippines), Philippine Women’s University and St. Scholastica’s College.

While raising a family, Binay gave free legal assistance to poor clients and victims of human rights abuses during the Marcos regime. His passion for the protection of human rights developed during his student days in UP, where he was a member of the student council and was among the acknowledged firebrands of the burgeoning student movement.

Martial Law

From the University of the Philippines campus, Binay graduated to the parliament of the streets. He joined the Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG) and the August Twenty-One Movement (ATOM), formed shortly after the assassination of Ninoy Aquino in August 1983. He also helped found the Movement of Attorneys for Brotherhood, Integrity and Nationalism, Inc. (MABINI), a group of progressive lawyers that include the late Senator Lorenzo Tañada, Sen. Wigberto Tañada, former Sen. Rene Saguisag and Sen. Joker Arroyo.

For helping political prisoners, many MABINI lawyers, including Binay, were locked up in local jails and military stockades.

Political career

Post EDSA Revolution

After the EDSA Revolution, President Corazon C. Aquino appointed Binay acting mayor of Makati. Binay was Aquino’s first appointed local official.

Binay was later elected mayor of Makati in 1988, during the first free elections under the Aquino administration, and was reelected in 1992 and 1995.

He was also appointed Governor of Metro Manila in 1987 in concurrent capacity and was later elected by his peers in Metro Manila as Chairman of the Metro Manila Authority.

Also during Corazon Aquino’s presidency, Binay found himself in the thick of action, this time in defense of the newly-restored democracy, during several failed military mutinies.

Binay joined pro-democracy forces in thwarting the mutinies. His active role in the defense of the Constitution earned him the nickname “Rambotito” (or little Rambo, after the screen hero), the Outstanding Achievement Medal and a special commendation from President Aquino herself.

His strengths as a mayor include his determination to provide quality education for all Makati residents. Makati public schools are among the best public schools in the Philippines, comparable to most private schools in terms of facilities and instruction. The local government of Makati, under Binay’s leadership has built pre schools, elementary/high schools and special education schools throughout Makati. The public school students’ books, school materials and school uniform are also subsidized by the local government. Binay also issued the first local government health card, called the “yellow card” to Makati residents which cover a certain amount of hospitalization costs. He was also the first to introduce free movie tickets to senior citizens subsidizing the costs wherein senior citizens could watch movies at Makati malls.

As MMDA Chairman

In 1998, Binay was appointed Chairman of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) with cabinet rank. He was also appointed as Vice-chairman of the Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission and Traffic Czar for Metro Manila.

Reelection as Mayor of Makati

Binay was reelected as mayor of Makati in 2001, winning over actor-TV host and then Vice Mayor Edu Manzano via landslide. In 2004, Binay ran for another term and won again by a landslide against Councilor Oscar Ibay.

He ran for his third and last term as mayor in 2007, beating incumbent Senator and actor Lito Lapid. His margin over Lapid has been considered as the largest margin in a local election in Makati City.

The Presidency

Binay (“Binay Na!”), the Philippines’ “Jo-bama” and the president of the United Opposition, is a Presidential candidate in the Philippine general election, 2010, who announced his bid at Makati City Hall in his 66th birthday on November 11, 2008. Amid 2,000 Makati and Zamboanga City supporters carrying streamers “Obama of the Philippines” and “Jojo Binay for President,” Binay released yellow and blue balloons with the print “Makati ngayon, Pilipinas bukas [Today Makati, tomorrow, the Philippines].” He will run under the banner of the Partido ng Demokratikong Pilipino-Laban (PDP-Laban). 40 Zamboanga City civic and private organizations signed a manifesto to urge Binay to run for president. Meanwhile, Joseph Estrada stated: “Si Mayor Binay din naman ay may kapasidad, may abilidad. Napakita ni Mayor Binay yung kanyang kakayahan bilang chief executive ng premier city ng Pilipinas (Mayor Binay has the capacity and the ability. He has shown this as the chief executive of the country’s premier city).”

Suspension

In October 2006, the Office of the President through the Department of Interior and Local Government issued a suspension order against Binay, his vice mayor and all members of the City Council following an accusation of ‘ghost employees’ allegedly on the city payroll by former city councilor Roberto Brillante, a political rival.  The order suspending Binay and all elected city officials was signed by Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita upon instruction of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

It was claimed this action was part of a government-sponsored drive to root out corruption ahead of the following year’s local elections but critics claimed it was designed to distract attention from the government’s own scandals around vote-rigging in the 2004 presidential election and to neuter opposition-held localities. Binay was the campaign manager of the opposition presidential candidate, actor Fernando Poe Jr. and had led protest actions in Makati following revelations of widespread poll cheating.

Makati residents, the political opposition and civil society groups stood by Binay, who barricaded himself inside the Makati City Hall. Among those who expressed their support were former President Aquino, actress Susan Roces – who is the widow of Arroyo’s rival in the 2004 presidential elections, Fernando Poe Jr. – and several Catholic bishops. After a three-day stand-off, the Court of Appeals stopped the Palace from unseating Binay. The appellate court issued a temporary restraining order (TRO). Before it lapsed, the court issued an injunction order, thereby preventing the Office of the President from enforcing its suspension order until the case is resolved.

After his legal victory over Malacanang, Binay was again upheld by the courts in a graft case filed by the Ombudsman over allegations of overpricing in the purchase of office furniture. The case was also filed by Brillante, who at that time was leading in Makati a Palace-supported signature campaign to amend the Constitution.

In a five page resolution, the Sandiganbayan Third Division dismissed the graft case filed against Binay and his six co-accused for lack of factual basis.

The court ruled that there was no probable cause to prosecute Binay, and that the criminal information “was devoid of any particulars as to how the figure was arrived at” and thus fatally defective. The resolution was written by Associate Justice Godofredo Legaspi and concurred in by Associate Justices Efren de la cruz and Norberto Geraldez.

BIR Garnishment

On May 2, 2007 the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) froze all the bank accounts of the city government of Makati and the personal accounts of Binay and his Vice Mayor Ernesto Mercado.

The BIR issued the order after it said the city still owed the BIR P 1.1 billion in withholding taxes of city employees from 1999 to 2002. BIR revenue officer Roberto Baquiran signed and issued the warrant of garnishment against the bank accounts that belonged to Binay, his vice mayor, the city government and the city’s treasurer and accountant.

The city government protested the garnishment order, saying the city had already paid P200 million to the BIR as part of a settlement agreement agreed to by Finance Secretary Margarito Teves and former BIR chief Jose Bunag. The city also said the order was flawed, since Baquiran has no authority to issue writs of garnishment. Freezing the personal accounts of Binay and Mercado were also unlawful, they said. The city government also maintained that the freeze order would cripple city government services.

The garnishment orders were eventually lifted by Malacañang, but not after Binay slammed the move as politically motivated and patently illegal. Business leaders also voiced concern over the adverse effects of the unprecedented BIR action on public services in the country’s financial center.

And again, barely a week before Election Day, the Ombudsman suspended Binay based on allegations made by a local candidate allied with Malacanang. It would be revealed that the charges were supported by falsified statements. As president of the United Opposition (UNO), Binay had been very active in campaigning for the opposition bets for the Senate, and had been issuing critical statements against the Arroyo government. In a repeat of the October 2006 incident, heavily-armed policemen barged into the City Hall after office hours, forcibly opening the offices and occupying the building. Binay confronted police officials and representatives of the Department of Interior and Local Government, while hundreds of supporters once again swarmed the city hall quadrangle to show their support.

The suspension order generated national media attention, and prompted even administration senatorial candidates to protest publicly, saying the action further undermined their chances in the elections. In the election that followed, Binay and his entire slate in the polls won by a landslide. The opposition slate for the Senate eventually won by a landslide.

Personal life

Binay is married to Elenita Sombillo, a doctor of medicine. Dr. Elenita S. Binay was elected Mayor of Makati in the 1998 elections, and served until 2001. Their union bore them five children: Maria Lourdes Nancy, Mar-Len Abigail (currently serving as representative of 2nd District of Makati City), Jejomar Erwin (Makati City Councilor), Marita Angeline and Joanna Marie Blanca.

Civic Work

Binay is also active in civic work. Besides being a member of the Rotary Club of Makati, R.I. District 3830, he is currently on his third term as the National President of the Boy Scouts of the Philippines and has been elected Asia-Pacific Regional Scout Committee Chairman on February 8, 2008. He also holds electoral positions in international organizations, namely: Vice President for Membership (2006- 2008), United Cities and Local Governments-Asia Pacific Chapter; Life Honorary Member (since February 2001) and Member, World Executive Committee – International Union of Local Authorities-Asia Pacific; Member, Executive Committee (2006-2009), Network for Local Authorities for the Management of Human Settlement (CITYNET); and Chairman, Finance Sub-Committee, World Scout Organization. He also holds the rank of colonel in the Philippine Navy Reserve Force.

Higher Studies

Binay took up graduate studies at the National Defense College of the Philippines (NDCP), the Command and General Staff College (CGSC), the Center for Research and Communication (now known as the University of Asia and the Pacific), the Joint Services Command Staff College (JSCSC), and the UP School of Urban and Regional Planning. He was senior executive fellow of the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

World Mayor

In 2006 Binay was chosen among the Top 10 Mayors of the World. In an on-line poll organized by CityMayors.com, Binay placed 4th overall behind John So of Melbourne, Australia, Job Cohen of Amsterdam, Netherlands and Stephen R. Reed, Harrisburg, USA.

Links

• Official Website
• Jejomar Binay Biography on makati.gov.ph
• Jejomar Binay in citymayors.com

MANILA, Philippines – Makati City Mayor Jejomar “Jojo” Binay on Tuesday announced his intent to run for president in the 2010 national elections.

A GMA Flash Report said Binay announced his presidential bid during the celebrations of his 66th birthday at the Makati City Hall.

The report quoted Binay as saying that he will accept it if the United Opposition (UNO) will not field him as their standard bearer. Binay is UNO president.

Meanwhile, a report over dzBB radio said Binay had already informed former President Joseph Estrada his plans to run in 2010.

Aside from Binay, those who have announced they will run for president or are reported to be eyeing the presidency in 2010 include Vice President Manuel “Noli” de Castro, Senators Manuel “Manny” Villar, Manuel “Mar” Roxas II, Panfilo Lacson, Richard Gordon, Loren Legarda and Metropolitan Manila Development Authority chair Bayani Fernando.

Public opinion polling body Social Weather Station on Friday revealed De Castro is the top pick to succeed President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in 2010. Following his trail are Villar, Legarda, Lacson, Escudero, former President Estrada, and Roxas. – GMANews.TV

GMANews.TV

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.”

“I am accepting your challenge to lead this revolution toward a progressive and respected Philippines,” said the activist and lawyer.

Binay was introduced by Makati Representative Teodoro “Teddyboy” Locsin Jr., who pointed out that the 19-year Makati mayor would like to be known for his “performance” and not his ambition.

“The city is the crowning testimony to his ability to lead the country,” Locsin said.

As to his programs, Binay said he would stamp out graft and corruption and focus on productivity and peace and order.

The mayor’s acceptance speech ended with the supporters releasing yellow and blue balloons with the print “Makati ngayon, Pilipinas bukas [Today Makati, tomorrow, the Philippines].”

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“Si Mayor Binay din naman ay may kapasidad, may abilidad. Napakita ni Mayor Binay yung kanyang kakayahan bilang chief executive ng premier city ng Pilipinas (Mayor Binay has the capacity and the ability. He has shown this as the chief executive of the country’s premier city),” Estrada said in an interview over QTV’s Balitanghali.

Earlier in the day, Binay declared his presidential bid for the 2010 elections during the celebrations of his 66th birthday at the Makati City Hall.

Binay is included in UNO’s (United Opposition) bench of “presidentiables.” The Makati City mayor said he will accept it if UNO will not field him as their standard bearer. Binay is UNO president.

Estrada, however, said UNO has yet determine its standard bearer for the 2010 polls.

“Sa ngayon, wala pa tayong napipili. Kung sino ang nakikita nating pinakamalakas, yun ang pipiliin natin. Siguro mga one year before o less than a year before the elections malalaman na natin kung sinong nangunguna sa survey,’ Estrada said.

(As of now, we haven’t picked a standardbearer. We would probably pick the one we deem to be the strongest contender. I think that a year before or less than a year before the elections, the surveys will show who the top presidential picks are.)

Estrada added he hopes the opposition will unite to boost their chances in winning in the 2010 elections. He said the UNO can learn from the recently concluded United States elections where Democrat Senator Barack Obama emerged victorious.

“Sana magkaisa ang opposisyon para masiguro ang panalo ng opposisyon. Sa nakaraang eleksyon ay apat-apat ang kumandidato, kaya madaling nadaya. Mukhang nangyari nung 2004 eleksyon, pinaghiwahiwalay ang mga boto ni FPJ [Fernando Poe Jr] at nagdagdag-bawas pa,” Estrada said.

(I hope the opposition unites to ensure our win. We had four candidates in the last elections that’s why we were easily cheated. FPJ’s votes were reduced and I believe there was vote-padding and vote-slashing.)

Last week, UNO spokesperson Lawyer Adel Tamano said the opposition will try to field a single candidate for next elections in an effort to “emulate” the US election system where during the primaries, Democrats and Republicans vote for a single standard-bearer for the general elections.

Tamano added that President-elect Obama serves as their inspiration as his victory proves that it is possible to stand up against “the machinery and the money of the powerful.” – GMANews.TV

GMANews.TV

The source said the expectation of De Castro, as relayed by his advisers who have started talking with different opposition groups like the United Opposition, Makati Business Club, and the Black and White Movement, the end of the Arroyo presidency is a matter of time and he (De Castro) expects to take over as the Constitution mandates.

“De Castro expects the presidency to fall into his lap like manna from heaven,” the source said expressing the frustration of many in the opposition over De Castro’s refusal to take a position on the issues of corruption and obstruction of justice that stemmed from the exposé on the alleged overpriced $329-million national broadband network deal with the Chinese firm ZTE Corp.

The position of De Castro is that becoming hostile to Arroyo would push her to take the hard-line position which could lead to a violent regime change. By giving her the option of resignation, De Castro thinks she could be persuaded to give up the presidency peacefully.

That would mean, however, that the two would have a deal, which could include sparing Arroyo from facing criminal charges.

The source said De Castro’s advisers do not seem to have a keen grasp of the reasons for the people’s outrage against the current administration and the danger that he could be swept away together with Arroyo.

Many in the opposition find De Castro unacceptable not only because of the perception of incompetence, but his turning a blind eye to the alleged crimes of Arroyo is said to betray a questionable sense of values. Leah Navarro, a member of the Black and White Movement, said they told De Castro’s representatives they want to see him to make a stand and “show us his heart.”

Rodolfo Noel “Jun” Lozada, star witness in the ZTE deal investigation, does not believe that Arroyo will ever resign.

“The ‘Arroyo resign’ call is a myth. She has to be ousted,” he said as he called on the military and police to make a stand and join the people demanding truth and justice in the government.

De Castro said he is “prepared” for the presidency. “From Day One, I already knew my duties under the Constitution as elected vice president.”

That is contrary to the explanation of his adviser to an opposition personality when asked why De Castro ignored the call of Black and White to join its call for Arroyo’s resignation in 2005. He said at that time, De Castro “was not yet prepared.”

The opposition is split over the issue of what happens if Arroyo is ousted. While some agree to follow the constitutional provision, others are calling for a resignation of both Arroyo and De Castro and the holding of snap elections. Others want a revolutionary council as a transition government.

The Black and White Movement said De Castro’s silence on the current issues is not helping.

The BWM includes the “Hyatt 10″ or the 10 Cabinet and other key officials who resigned en masse from the Arroyo Cabinet in 2005.

“We would like to ask the Vice President to bare what’s in his heart so we can see if he is worth supporting for as a replacement for President Arroyo,” said Navarro, BWM executive director. “We hope he can tell us what he thinks about the various issues facing the country so we can make an informed decision.”

Navarro said De Castro owes it to the people to say if he “pro- or anti- Gloria, is he for the truth, is he for the status quo like a traditional politician? Does he feel capable?”

Former Social Welfare secretary Corazon “Dinky” Soliman, a “Hyatt 10 member,” said while De Castro is the constitutional successor, he has to make a stand because he would be leading a transition government.

De Castro on Sunday said he was “prepared” for the presidency but left to legal processes the determination of the truth in the NBN allegations.

Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said De Castro was merely stating a fact when said he is “prepared” to succeed Arroyo if the need arises.

This does not mean De Castro is calling for Arroyo’s ouster, Bunye said.

Bunye made the statement as De Castro stressed he is the vice president of the Filipinos and not of the President.

“He has stated that he is prepared, that is correct; he has stated that he’s not asking for the resignation of the President, that is also correct; and I believe he stated that he has attended all or practically all the Cabinet meetings, which is a way of really keeping himself prepared for any eventuality. But let me repeat that he is not asking for the resignation of the President,” Bunye said.

Bunye said there is also nothing wrong in De Castro’s pronouncement that he is also interested in the truth “but he wants the courts to be the one to pursue this search for truth.”

He expressed confidence De Castro would remain to be a part of the Arroyo government.

He described De Castro as a “credit” to the Cabinet as he has done a good job at the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council.

“We’re confident that the Vice President would remain as one of the most active members of the Cabinet… I don’t see any reason for the Vice President to change that posture,” he said. – With Ashzel Hachero and Jocelyn Montemayor

:: Malaya – The National Newspaper ::

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.

Binay, who is facing administration Sen. Manuel “Lito” Lapid in the mayoral race, was served a suspension order late Friday night in connection with a plunder case filed by a political rival with the Office of the Ombudsman.

Two days before, the Bureau of Internal Revenue froze all the bank accounts of the city government and the personal accounts of Binay and Vice Mayor Ernesto Mercado in what the BIR said was an effort to recover P1.1 billion in alleged unpaid taxes.

The freeze order threatened to cripple operations at City Hall.

Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno said the preventive suspension of Binay would be deferred “for the duration of the election period.”

In a statement, Puno said he was putting off the suspension “in the spirit of fair play.”

The Office of the Ombudsman ordered the preventive suspension of Binay — his second in six months — while he was being investigated for allegedly filling the city payroll with “ghost employees.”

Assistant Interior Secretary Brian Yamsuan said the “deferment” was actually “the continuation of the dialogue” between Binay and Interior Undersecretary Marius Corpus and the Philippine National Police on Friday.

“We wanted to be civil and prudent, that’s why there was a dialogue. We acted in good faith,” Yamsuan said in a telephone interview.

The Department of the Interior and Local Government implemented the suspension order on Friday because it could be charged with dereliction of duty if it did not, he said.

Tension gripped the Makati City Hall on Friday night after DILG officials, armed with a suspension order from the Ombudsman, tried to evict Binay.

Corpus, accompanied by senior police officers, met with Binay to serve the order, but Corpus later agreed to defer serving the order to Monday.

Denied due process

The deferment of his suspension did not appease Binay.

“The Filipino people, not just in Makati, all know that (Malacañang’s) sole objective is to achieve its political ends without regard to public interest,” Binay said in the statement.

Binay could not be reached for an interview Sunday.

His political adviser, Lito Anzures, said the mayor was conferring with his lawyers about his legal options in a closed-door meeting.

Although he agreed to receive the suspension order, Binay said he would ask the Court of Appeals on Monday to issue a temporary restraining order (TRO) against its implementation.

Binay said he was denied due process by the Office of the Ombudsman when it failed to provide him a copy of the complaint filed by a congressional candidate who, he noted, was running under Ms Arroyo’s party.

Lakas candidate Oscar Ibay filed the complaint in December 2006 but Binay said that up to now, he had not received a copy of the charges.

Neither has he been asked by the Ombudsman to comment on the allegations, he said.

Binay alleged that his political opponents had known about his imminent suspension as early as last week.

“It’s the same as the garnishment order from the BIR.”

Binay maintained that the suspension was part of a Malacañang plan to harass him for being a vocal critic of the administration, citing a series of events that began with the killing of his security chief, Pablo Glean, last year.

“The pattern of harassment is clear. After the still unsolved killing of my security chief, Malacañang tried to suspend me in October last year, but this was stopped by the people of Makati,” he said.

Officials tried to serve a suspension order against Binay last year based on a complaint by his political rival Roberto Brillante that he and the city council were keeping ghost employees.

Face-saving move

But the mayor, after barricading himself with his supporters at City Hall for three days, obtained a TRO and later an injunction barring interior officials from carrying out the suspension order.

Binay said that the lifting of the garnishment order on Makati’s assets was another “face-saving move.”

He questioned the order, saying the city had already paid P200 million to the BIR in a compromise settlement, and argued that the freeze order would cripple the city government.

In a statement, Revenue Commissioner Jose Mario Buñag said he had ordered the agency’s regional office to limit its freeze order on Makati’s bank accounts to only the amount that covered the tax claim.

Unusual

The move is unusual for the BIR, which normally freezes all bank accounts of a delinquent taxpayer, regardless of amount, until the dispute has been settled and the levy paid.

“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 to take the necessary steps to limit the writ of garnishment issued by the Bureau against the City of Makati to the amount of unpaid taxes and increments being claimed by the BIR,” he said.

The case stemmed from the city government’s alleged failure to remit a total of P1.15 billion in withholding taxes of about 8,000 employees from 1999 to 2002.

With Buñag’s order, the BIR’s Makati unit immediately instructed the presidents, treasurers and cashiers of the banks that held Makati’s funds to lift and cancel the warrant of garnishment issued on May 2.

List of banks

These banks are Equitable PCI Bank, Philippine National Bank, Allied Banking Corp., Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co., Banco de Oro Universal Bank, Asiatrust Development Bank, China Banking Corp., LBC Development Bank, Planters Development Bank, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., Union Bank of the Philippines, United Coconut Planters Bank, Security Bank Corp., Asia United Bank, Bank of Commerce, BDO Private Bank, Export Industry Bank, International Exchange Bank, Philippine Bank of Communications, Philippine Trust Co., Land Bank of the Philippines, Development Bank of the Philippines and Banco Filipino.

Baquiran also ordered the lifting and the cancellation of the warrant of garnishment on Makati’s funds in Philippine Veterans Bank beyond the disputed amount of tax liabilities.

“Makati has deposits in Veterans Bank that can cover the amount due our unpaid taxes,” Buñag said.

The BIR said the city’s unpaid tax liabilities stood at P600 million to P700 million for the years 1999, 2000 and 2001. This is significantly lower than the P1.1-billion liability the tax agency earlier announced.

Palace not giving up

Malacañang said it was not giving up the legal battle to unseat Binay.

Palace legal counsel Sergio Apostol even accused Binay, the president of the United Opposition, of using his court battle against corruption charges to advance his political interest.

“He is the one doing a martial law in Makati,” Apostol said.

Team Unity campaign strategist Ben Evardone denied that Malacañang was softening its stance.

“How can you sympathize with a person like Binay who would like to defy the court? This will not affect election results, contrary to what GO [Genuine Opposition] and Binay are saying,” he said.

Yamsuan rejected suggestions that Puno backtracked after Ms Arroyo blew her top over the Binay issue. “That’s not true,” he said.

What happened was that after the report on Binay’s suspension broke in the media, Ms Arroyo called Puno to inquire “if the suspension order was true,” Yamsuan said.

He said that even Ms Arroyo was not informed about the suspension order and the subsequent implementation of the Ombudsman’s order by the DILG.

Puno acting on his own?

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said Puno was acting on his own when he decided to defer the implementation of the suspension order.

“Yes, the DILG is the implementing arm of government on matters of this nature. Whatever it is, Secretary Puno as head of the local government is taking this action according to his better judgment as implementor of the executive branch on matters of this nature.”

Ermita begged off, when asked about the BIR decision to lift the writ of garnishment issued against the city government.

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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.

The Department of Interior and Local Government said in a statement it placed Binay under preventive suspension over charges of defrauding the city government by putting “ghost employees” on its payroll.

Binay will be suspended “without pay for a period not exceeding six months pending the investigation” of the administrative complaint filed against him, the statement added.

Interior Undersecretary Marius Corpus, accompanied by senior police officers, met with Binay and Vice Mayor Ernesto Mercado in Binay’s office on the 21st floor of the City Hall to serve the order.

But the actual serving of the order was deferred to Monday.

During their meeting, Binay questioned the timing of the order, saying a preventive suspension order could not be served after office hours.

Corpus said he had wanted to serve the order earlier because a hearing of the case had been scheduled for Tuesday and he thought that serving it on Monday would be a bit late.

Binay told Corpus that he would be at the City Hall on Monday at 8 a.m. during the flag raising ceremony to receive the suspension order.

Corpus agreed to defer the serving of the order until then.

Binay said the status quo would be maintained for now. He added, however, that once the suspension order is served on him on Monday, Mercado would assume the mayoral post while he would file a petition with the Court of Appeals for a temporary restraining order.

“The suspension order is null and void,” he said.

This was the second time in six months that the Arroyo administration, on whose side Binay had been a political thorn, had tried to oust the leader of the United Opposition (UNO).

Some supporters waved clenched fists, others chanted: “We don’t want an actor,” an apparent reference to movie actor, Senator Lito Lapid, whom Malacañang is backing in the mayoral contest.

Asked if he believed the suspension order was a form of political harassment, Binay’s son Erwin said: “They want Lapid to be the mayor.”

Earlier, special police units tried to seal off secondary roads to prevent the entry of Binay supporters.

“This is harassment,” the mayor’s daughter Abigail said in a radio interview. “They are moving [against him] in succession. There was the petition for disqualification … Then there was the garnishment of the assets of the city. Then the personal assets of Binay were frozen.”

“Now here comes the suspension order. His political rivals are getting desperate. By hook or by crook, they want to win. As a result, the people of Makati are getting more united against them,” said Abigail, who herself is running for a seat in Congress.

A senior official at the Department of Interior and Local Governments told the Philippine Daily Inquirer that the DILG was merely implementing an order from the Ombudsman for the suspension of Binay.

“This is not an arrest but an implementation of the suspension order,” said the official, who asked not to be identified because he said he was not authorized to speak to the media.

At one point, policemen looking for Binay, forced their way into the City Hall, damaging some property.

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno informed the Palace on Friday that he had received a copy of the Ombudsman’s suspension order.

“They have been looking for Mayor Binay but could not locate him. They just found him an hour ago,” Ermita said at about 9 p.m.

Ermita disclaimed Palace involvement in the move to oust Binay.

“We cannot meddle with the Ombudsman,” he said. “They (Binay’s group) have a recourse [in the courts]. Either Monday or Tuesday, they can get a TRO (temporary restraining order,” Ermita said.

“The DILG is just executing a lawful order from the Ombudsman,” said Ermita.

Sources in the Ombudsman, reached last night, said the order stemmed from a complaint by former councilor Oscar Ibay that City Hall under Binay employed ghost employees possibly numbering allegedly by the thousands.

Also contacted last night, Ibay said that of the five complaints he had initiated against Binay, one complaint did involve ghost employees.

He claimed that his office discovered up to 8,000 City Hall employees without tax identification numbers (TIN) and “this is where they probably hid the ghost employees.”

In October last year, Binay barricaded himself in his 22-floor office at the City Hall after the DILG also tried to suspend him over the issue of ghost employees.

The latest suspension order was reportedly signed by Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez and endorsed by Deputy Ombudsman Orlando Casimiro.

At one point last night, Binay’s opposition colleagues began streaming into City Hall to provide moral support for the embattled mayor.

They included opposition senatorial candidates Sonia Roco, Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III and Makati Representative Teodoro Locsin Jr.

Pimentel said that as a general rule there should be no preventive suspension of candidates during an election period.

Roco, for her part, said: “It’s very, very unjust and sets a state of terrorism. It sends a chilling effect on democracy.”

She said the suspension order was an attack not just on the Mayor but on the opposition.

A handful of members of the militant group Bayan Muna and Akbayan also came and waved flags on the steps of the City Hall in a show of support for Binay. With reports from Thea Alberto, INQUIRER.net; Volt Contreras and Juliet Labog

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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.

On Wednesday, the BIR ordered 34 major banks to freeze the city government’s assets, as well as Binay’s personal funds.

In a press conference at the City Hall with Vice Mayor Ernesto Mercado yesterday, Binay questioned the serving of the garnishment order to private banks, instead of just the four government banks where the city’s assets were deposited.

“In the Philippine Veterans Bank alone, we have enough funds to cover the P1.1 billion (in unpaid taxes), so why did they serve the notice of garnishment to all banks?” Mercado asked.

“Isn’t this a clear case of political harassment?” Binay said.

But BIR revenue officer Roberto Baquiran, who signed the garnishment notices, said the “blanket” service was standard operating procedure, since they had no way of determining the amount deposited in each bank account. “Once we get confirmation that the P1.1 billion has been secured then, within one minute, I can order the withdrawal of the notices of garnishment,” he told the Inquirer.

The BIR alleged the city government failed to remit a total of P1,150,331,321.81 in withholding taxes of about 8,000 employees from 1999 to 2002.

On March 9, BIR chief of the withholding tax division Marivic Galban wrote a demand letter addressed to Binay, the city treasurer and the city accountant, asking the city government to pay its alleged tax liabilities. Galban gave Binay until March 31 to avail of a special “one-time administrative abatement program.”

Binay said the issuance of the garnishment notices was irregular since BIR Revenue Memorandum Circular No. 24-2007 gave all taxpayers until June 30 to avail of the amnesty. The mayor said he would do everything necessary to regain control of Makati’s assets.

Binay, president of the United Opposition, reiterated his accusation that the BIR was acting on orders of his political enemies.

He said his political rivals knew of the BIR case several days in advance as shown by its publication in Tanod, a periodical.

Binay alleged that Tanod is run by the Genuinos. Erwin Genuino, son of Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. Chair Efraim Genuino, is running against Binay’s daughter Abigail for representative of the city’s district 2. Another Genuino son, Ton, is running for councilor.

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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.

Makati City, which is adjacent to Manila, is home to most of the country’s wealthiest businesses and many of its most prominent families. Binay, however, also has a powerful base of support among thousands of impoverished local residents in older areas of the city. He and his family have held power here almost continuously since the overthrow of Ferdinand Marcos in 1986.

Early last week, Binay asked the Philippines Court of Appeals to stop his impending suspension, arguing that the charges were trumped up. He said Tuesday he is confident of winning a reprieve from the court. “I will not back down,” he said.

Binay’s real crime may be his outspoken leadership of opposition figures wanting to out the scandal-wracked government of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo from office.

Below is a profile of Binay from the current edition of Manila’s NEWSBREAK magazine arguing that that the Presidential Palace is behind the campaign to oust Binay.

Purge in the City

Jo Jo Binay is the Mayor Philippines President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo Loves to Hate

Reprinted by permission from NewsbreakMagazine, (October 23, 2006)
By Miriam Grace A. Go

EVEN BEFORE Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay warned about it, there already loomed an apparent pattern of opposition mayors, at least in Metro Manila, being stripped of certain powers by Malacañang. In March, there was Pasig City’s Vicente Eusebio; in August, Pasay City’s Wenceslao “Peewee” Trinidad. So when Binay cried political persecution over a series of administrative and graft complaints being prepared against him in September, it made people think.

Binay is the only one raising hell. Eusebio stayed abroad when he was embroiled in a controversy; Trinidad quietly asked the Court of Appeals to stop his suspension. Binay called for a press conference as soon as Malacañang asked him to respond to an administrative complaint, saying this was part of a plan to weaken the opposition. At the time, he didn’t know that a case over other allegations would soon be filed against him before the Sandiganbayan.

The truth is, the Palace is after Binay, just Binay.

Based on interviews with several sources in other local government units (LGUs) in the capital, NEWSBREAK didn’t see the administration systematically undermining the political strength of other mayors. But in Makati, there’s convincing information that the Palace is putting to motion a calculated campaign to remove the mayor from City Hall. Sources privy to certain aspects of the game plan say that a Cabinet official, known to do sensitive backroom work for the First Couple, is the Palace’s point man for the Makati project.

The problem of these opposition mayors is that the wrongdoings for which they are being questioned are backed by documents, regardless of the identity or political motivation of the complainants.

PRO-FPJ

On the surface, Binay’s allegation that opposition mayors are being singled out seems plausible.

In March this year, Pasig’s Eusebio became the first local chief executive in the national capital region (NCR) to be divested of supervision over his local police. In August, the Ombudsman placed Pasay’s Trinidad and practically his entire council on a six-month preventive suspension. Exactly a month later, the anti-graft body filed charges against Binay, his wife (who used to be mayor), and his entire council, while the Palace was studying a separate administrative complaint against him.

The three mayors supported Ms. Arroyo’s strongest rival in the 2004 presidential election, the late Fernando Poe Jr.

And being local executives, whatever suspension from office or reduction of powers are meted out to them have to be served by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), which is headed by the President’s known trouble-shooter, Ronaldo Puno.

(There are three ways a local official can be removed from office, either permanently or temporarily: as ordered by a criminal court, for crimes committed; by the Ombudsman or Sandiganbayan, for graft; by the Office of the President or a higher local government unit, for administrative offenses. The National Police Commission can take back its deputization of a mayor when there’s a breakdown in peace and order.)

Palace operatives offered a spin on the assassination of former Pasig congressman Henry Lanot. At the time of his death, Lanot was protesting his loss to re-electionist Eusebio in the mayoral polls. They said Lanot was killed because the ballots that he had asked to be reviewed would show that it was Poe who cheated Arroyo in the presidential election. They didn’t show proof nor name the alleged mastermind of the murder.

In Pasay, a councilor says the case against Mayor Trinidad, Vice Mayor Antonio Calixto, and 10 of the 12 councilors is a result of the rift between Trinidad and lone Pasay Rep. Connie Dy. But the fact is: the congresswoman is a member of the Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino or KAMPI, the original party of the President which is now headed by Puno.

On the other hand, the administrative and graft cases against Binay came after he gave Sigaw ng Bayan a hard time soliciting signatures in the city for the Palace-backed people’s initiative to amend the Constitution. Binay is also president of the national United Opposition or UNO, and has been making the premier financial district available to anti-Arroyo rallies that are banned elsewhere in Metro Manila. In 2001, he was suspected of bussing in people for the May 1 demonstrations that threatened the then four-month-old Arroyo administration. An administration senator, Manuel “Lito” Lapid, also announced that he had been asked by the Arroyos to challenge Binay in the 2007 polls.

TOO FAST

The observation of Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr., Binay’s party mate in PDP-Laban, makes sense: if Binay and Trinidad will be placed under a six-month suspension now, they won’t be in offi ce by the time the campaign period starts in March 2007. They won’t have the so-called incumbent’s edge when they seek reelection.

The haste in the orders is questionable, too. When the Ombudsman is investigating an official, he is placed under preventive suspension, which normally lasts six months. This type of suspension doesn’t mean the official is guilty. He is temporarily removed from offi ce so he can’t hide or destroy evidence or intimidate his co-workers from testifying against him.

When a preventive suspension order is issued, the offi cial can go to the Court of Appeals (CA) for a temporary restraining order (TRO). Only after the CA has denied the petition for a TRO will the Ombudsman be able to implement the suspension order through the DILG.

In Trinidad’s case, his fellow Metro Manila mayors noted in a statement, the DILG immediately suspended the mayor and his council and swore in the acting mayor and vice mayor while the CA was still hearing Trinidad’s petition for a TRO.

In Binay’s case, the Ombudsman didn’t place him under preventive suspension. Instead, it filed on September 28 a case against him before the Sandiganbayan. This could mean Binay can be forced out of office immediately by the anti-graft court.

MORE THAN VOTES

Their cases, however, could not be considered political persecution on the basis of Poe’s victory in their areas because, if that were the case, Malacañang would have to cause the suspension of all mayors, except one, in Metro Manila. In the NCR, based on the certifi cates of canvass, President Arroyo won only in Las Piñas.

Even based on the margin that Poe had over her in Metro Manila’s LGUs, President Arroyo’s operators would not have pounced first on Eusebio, Trinidad, and Binay. Poe’s biggest leads over her were in Manila, the territory of her staunchest supporter Lito Atienza (82,410), in Kalookan City (65,265), and in Malabon/Navotas (62,967). President Arroyo’s smallest shares of votes, on the other hand, were in Malabon/Navotas (20.68 percent), Valenzuela (23.31 percent), and Kalookan (23.10 percent).

There’s no telling either if those being investigated are all anti-Arroyo politicians. Binay’s challenge for the national government to release a list of the LGU executives under investigation has been ignored. NEWSBREAK requested the same lists from Malacañang and the DILG, but was denied. The Ombudsman agreed to release its list, but we didn’t receive it before we went to press.

Based on newspaper reports (NEWSBREAK monitored 11 cases involving incumbents), political affiliation didn’t seem a factor.

For instance, Naga’s Jesse Robredo, known for his transparent governance and simple lifestyle, was ordered to be placed under a two-month preventive suspension in July over supposed graft—for failing to declare in his statement of assets company shares which he had divested more than a decade ago.

In Baguio City, where President Arroyo won with a big margin over Poe, first-term Mayor Braulio Yaranon was ordered suspended for one year by the DILG starting August. He committed “grave abuse of authority” when he prevented motorists from paying parking fees to a private company that had proper permits.

REASONABLE GROUNDS

But the grounds against the three opposition mayors in Metro Manila seem reasonable.

The NAPOLCOM removed police control from Eusebio in Pasig after national cops found an entire street where illegal drugs were openly peddled and pot sessions were conducted. It had been going on for three years, 100 meters away from City Hall, and the mayor took no action. After the raid that wasn’t coordinated with his office, Eusebio dismantled the shabu shanties that the national police was preserving as evidence in the court case.

The Pasay officials headed by Trinidad extended several times the garbage collection contracts of five companies without public bidding, and sometimes without supporting resolution from the city council. The contracts involved a total of P464 million.

Binay, his wife Elenita, and his councilors have been charged before the Sandiganbayan for awarding several contracts to office fixture suppliers that they apparently knew belonged to the same persons, allowing the monopoly of contracts; and for overpricing the said furniture pieces meant for the newly built city hall from 1999 to 2001. The alleged anomalies involve a combined amount of P232 million and the overpricing to P53 million. The contracts were awarded during the term of Elenita, and they were honored during Binay’s time. The complaint, filed by Binay’s nemesis Roberto Brillante (who had run for mayor but lost), was based on reports by the Commission on Audit.

Meanwhile, the administrative complaint, filed also by Brillante, involves Binay’s alleged retention of ghost employees who received P113 million in salaries from the city government.

BIG THREAT

The Arroyo administration sees Binay as a threat. At the height of street protests and coup plots that threatened to oust Ms. Arroyo last year, close allies of the President started gathering evidence for possible graft charges against Binay. They believed he was funding the rallies and helping rebel soldiers.

If Binay is feeling the heat—his critics cite as proof the tarpaulins suddenly flying all over Makati heralding his accomplishments—it didn’t help that his closest aide and friend Pablo “Lito” Glean was gunned down in mid-September. Although there are other angles that the police is pursuing, Binay insists that Glean was killed after the latter gathered sensitive information that the administration was out to liquidate the mayor.

Binay declined NEWSBREAK’s request for an interview.

The Palace strategy may succeed in pinning down Binay legally, but it could gain him voters’ sympathy. The Arroyo administration could learn from the experience of former President Fidel Ramos.

Ramos issued a suspension order against the reelectionist mayor before the 1995 polls. Instead of asking for a TRO, Binay, in Boy Scout uniform, allowed himself to be arrested and jailed. He was photographed from his cell shaking the hands of his supporters from the poor communities of Makati, and got out only after they passed the hat and raised bail money for him.

The underdog play apparently worked, and the ruling Lakas party failed to wangle Makati out of Binay’s hold. In 1998, as his last term ended, he got his wife Elenita to succeed him, while he delivered the vote to the opposition’s presidential candidate, Joseph Estrada.

The next thing his political enemies knew, Binay had become a heavyweight they now find difficult to topple.

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