Bogus President Gloria Arroyo Suspends Popularly Elected Makati City Mayor Binay

On Persecution Binge, GMA Suspends Makati City Mayor Binay
Why Malacanang lapdogs needed 1,000 plus police force to serve a suspension order on Makati City Mayor Jojo Binay? It’s overkill! As usual selective justice is at work. It’s expected that opposition leader Mayor Binay will be suspended by Malacanang. How can a bogus President Gloria Arroyo thru DILG suspend an elected local executive by MERE SUSPICION of alleged crime? What 500 ghost employees? Are they identified? Gloria Arroyo and her cohorts cheated and manipulated election results even dead people voted for GMA 1,000,000 X. Physical and documentary evidence/testimonies had proven and identified former Comelec commissionaire Virgilio Garcillano and military-police top officials cheated in favor of Gloria Arroyo. Are they suspended too? She’s really stinks and has no clear mandate! Oust congenital liar and ultimate cheater Gloria Arroyo!


REMOVING THE CORRUPT


DAILY TRIBUNE 10/18/2006

Determined to oust opposition leaders out of their power bases, President Arroyo instead created a crisis in the country’s financial district after she ordered the 60-day suspension of Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay, his Vice Mayor, Ernesto Mercado, and 16 city councilors yesterday.
The ongoing crisis was taken seriously by the United States government, as the American Embassy in Manila issued an advisory to its citizens asking them to exercise caution when traveling in the Makati vicinity in anticipation of heightened state of security and demonstrations as a result of Binay’s suspension from office.
“Please plan your travel accordingly: avoid crowds and exercise caution when traveling in the Makati vicinity. A reminder, even demonstrations intended to be peaceful can turn confrontational and possibly escalate into violence,” the advisory said.
Binay refused to step down from his office following the 60-day suspension order issued against him and his officials by theDepartment of the Interior and Local Governments (DILG).
Binay, who filed a petition for temporary restraining order from the Court of Appeals, said he will contest the order since it violates several provisions of the local government code.
“I will not leave (my office). I will wait for the decision of the Court of Appeals since this is a highly irregular and illegal order,” he added.
Binay received a 60-day “preventive suspension” order accusing him of defrauding the government with 500 non-existent employees on the city payroll, said DILG Secretary Ronaldo Puno.
Dressed in a Marine uniform, Binay was holed up on the 21st floor of Makati City Hall and told reporters he would defy the order. “I will not follow this illegal order. They might as well kill me here but I will never run away from this fight,” he said.
A leading opposition figure, Binay has been widely criticized by the administration for allowing opposition groups to hold huge anti-Arroyo rallies in Makati that have seen the financial heart of the city grind to a halt.
He is the second opposition Manila mayor to be suspended by Malacañang.
Detained President Joseph Estrada, for his part, yesterday called on Malacañang to stop its blatant harassment and persecution of opposition leaders following the suspension order issued by Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita against Binay.
“There is an obvious systematic attempt to vilify and prosecute opposition members who are not on the ‘right’ side of the political fence,” Estrada said through his lawyer, former Immigration Commissioner Rufus Rodriguez. “This is no reason to deprive them of the mandate to serve the people, earned through the ballot and not through a political appointment.
He urged Mrs. Arroyo to abandon this tactic “as it will only deepen the political crisis in our country and prove to her critics that her administration is indeed bent on silencing the opposition through whatever means - which translates to little more than a undeclared state of martial law.”
He also noted that only opposition-allied local officials were being earmarked for suspension while administration allies remained untouched.
“Even ordinary citizens notice that administration officials with pending cases are not being made to answer for their crimes,” Estrada said. “There is a double standard of justice prevailing here and it does not speak well of the real reasons behind Mayor Binay’s suspension.”
“What happened to the multi-million peso scams involving administration allies, like the fertilizer fund scam, the PEA-Amari deal, the Diosdado Macapagal Boulevard scam, and other high profile plunder cases? Why has no one been made answerable for these?” Estrada asked.
Binay said the suspension was “political harassment” for his support of opposition forces seeking to oust Arroyo on charges that she cheated to win the 2004 elections.
Former president Corazon Aquino visited Binay to show her support and hundreds of Binay followers were massing in the area to resist any attempt to remove the combative mayor.
Temporary Makati mayor Rodolfo Ferarin was installed in another building.
Puno minimized the danger of unrest, saying there was no need to eject Binay or the other officials from their offices.
He denied the case was politically motivated, stating that other pro-administration mayors had been suspended on similar grounds.
Malacañang yesterday was hard-pressed in attempting to convince the public that the suspension of the Makati Mayor and all his councilors had no politics involved, as its aides claimed that they merely followed the law when it approved the issuance of preventive suspension on the Makati officials en masse.
Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye denied that they are initiating a campaign against all critics from the local government units (LGUs) with Binay and Pasay City Mayor Wenceslao “Peewee” Trinidad as early victims.
But Bunye said Malacañang is not discounting the possibility of a permanent officer-in-charge from the DILG being installed for the duration of Binay’s suspension.
The Palace, however, is mum on the challenge of Binay for the Palace and Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita to make public the alleged list of ghost employees in the Makati City government which was claimed to be the basis of Binay and his officials’ suspension.
The Makati Mayor, who refused to acknowledge the suspension order from DILG, said he has yet to receive a list of the alleged ghost employees in Makati City Hall.
The Vice Mayor received the suspension order but said he will contest it before local courts. “I received (the suspension order) because I believe that law still exists in our country,” he said.
DILG Undersecretary Wencelito Andanar, escorted by several armed policemen, served the suspension order shortly before 6:45 a.m. at the Makati City Hall.
Feraren, the appointed mayor, was ordered to hold office at the old Makati City Hall.
Andanar downplayed the tension at the city hall as he urged the employees and department heads to report back for work.
“It’s business as usual. We will not allow the city hall’s operation and essential services to be disrupted just because Binay refused to honor the suspension,” Andanar said, adding that he had asked Feraren to call a meeting with all the department heads yesterday.
About a thousand battle-geared policemen from the Southern Police District and National Capital Regional Police Office were ordered to maintain peace and order in the city.
Binay and his officials remained encamped at his office at the 22-storey Makati city hall building as supporters held massive vigil at the quadrangle.
Andanar said DILG is leaving it to the police on how long they will let Binay stay inside his office. “He has to leave. If he doesn’t want to leave, that’s his (decision). I know that Mayor Binay knows the consequences,” Andanar said.
Later in the afternoon, report said that Feraren has given the camp of Binay two days for him to wait for the result of his petition for TRO and for him to vacate his office.
House Minority Leader Francis Escudero denounced the suspension of Binay, saying it had no basis. Other members of the opposition parties and civil society who also provided support for Binay were Manila Vice Mayor Danilo Lacuna, former Vice President Teofisto Guingona, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan secretary general Renato Reyes Jr., Linggoy Alcuaz of the National Coordinating Council for Volunteers, filmmakers Armida Siguion-Reyna and son Carlitos, members of militant groups and the Partido ng Masang Pilipino, an organization aligned with former President Estrada.
They criticized the administration for what they called an obvious attempt by the government to neutralize the opposition before the May 2007 elections.
Escudero said the Arroyo administration is targeting local officials affiliated with the political opposition.
He accused Malacañang of having no delicadeza as it disrespected the country’s democracy by appointing Feraren, DILG’s Metro Manila director, as acting mayor of Makati.
Feraren does not have the people’s mandate as he was not duly elected and did not get a single vote from the locality, he pointed out.
Aquino has reiterated the challenge for the government to name the alleged ghost employees in the complaint. She denounced the Malacañang order as it failed to consider Binay’s pending petition before the Apellate Court for a TRO.
San Juan Mayor Joseph Victor Ejercito yesterday asked the government to simply let them do their jobs and stop harassing them as he stressed the suspension order against Binay was a slap on the faces of the people who had elected him.
Leaders of the opposition had turned up at City Hall Monday in support of the mayor, among whom was Navotas mayor Toby Tiangco.
Meanwhile, administration and opposition senators crossed party lines in rallying behind Binay, as they unanimously said it was nothing but pure political persecution and an abuse of the justice system, noting the apparent crackdown on all political figures in the local front.
Senators were one in noting the apparent pattern in which local executives are getting suspended from discharging their duties, saying it could be nothing but politically motivated.
Sen. Edgardo Angara warned Malacañang against continuing its alleged crackdown against mayors, especially when the polls are just few months away, saying it could only take its toll on the administration.
“This can be perceived as an abuse of the justice system and it is quite surprising that the victims are all opposition figures,” said Angara in an interview with reporters.
“This is a very bad situation because Makati City is the financial center of the country and many foreign businesses are located there including some of the biggest banks of the world and these multinational companies have very sensitive antennas that will flash this negative news to their officers all over the world,” he warned.
Sen. Ramon Magsaysay said: “This is pure and simple political persecution. There is no more level playing field insofar as justice is concerned because I have heard some other mayors have more cases filed against them but the DILG just honed in on Binay and before, (Wenceslao “Peewee”) Trinidad of Pasay City. As you can see, this is a selective partisan suspension of opposition mayors.”
Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr said: “The suspension of Mayor Jejomar Binay shows ruthless, schizophrenic, hypocritical Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo prosecuting local government officials who are against her while coddling others supporting her. It’s time to use all licit moves to check her abuses. Michaela P. del Callar, Dona Policar, Angie M. Rosales, Sherwin C. Olaes, Gerry Baldo, Gina Peralta-Elorde, Jason Faustino and AFP

Philippine mayor defies government