In a press conference on Wednesday afternoon, Binay said the Office of the Ombudsman's "special express" suspension order against him and several other Makati city officials no longer came as a surprise.
He said the six-month preventive suspension order was signed on Tuesday afternoon, just four days after the Ombudsman decided to proceed with the preliminary investigation into the allegedly overpriced Makati City Hall Building 2.
"Sino ba ang mga bumubuo ng special panel ng Ombudsman na nag-imbestiga po sa akin? Mga prosecutors na kilalang tao ni Atty. Simeon Marcelo, na dating Ombudsman at law partner ni Atty. Nonong Cruz. Hindi lang sila mga abugado ni DILG Secretary Mar Roxas, sila rin ay kilalang mga operator ni Secretary Mar Roxas," Binay said.
"Sino po ba ang implementing agency ng aking suspension? Ang DILG na pinamumunuan ni Secretary Roxas," he added.
Roxas lost to Binay's father, Jejomar Binay, in the vice presidential race in 2010. They are also seen to be pitted against each other in the 2016 presidential elections.
Vice President Binay has long declared his intention to run for the country's top post next year. Roxas, on the other hand, has not announced his plans for 2016 but has been tagged by Liberal Party (LP) leaders as their "sentimental choice" for standard bearer.
The younger Binay maintained that all the allegations against him and his family are only part of a demolition job meant to discredit his father's candidacy in 2016. He said he expects more attacks against them as the elections near.
"Hindi pa po tapos ang mga kasinungalingan at paninira laban sa aking ama at sa aming pamilya... Iisa lang naman ang dahilan ng panggigipit nila, at ito po ay para hadlangan ang hangarin ng aking ama na maglingkod sa inyo bilang presidente ng ating bansa," he said.
"Paulit-ulit na lang ho. Ilang administrasyon na, ganito po ang laging nangyayari. Hindi ho namin inaasahan na magpapatuloy po ang ganitong estilo na kung saan iniipit ang mga opisyales ng gobyerno nang dahil laman po sa halalan. Nakakalungkot, nalulungkot po kami. Dapat ito ho ay panahon na meron tayong political maturity. Yun nga lang, very evident, wala pa po tayo," he added.
'BAKIT NAGMAMADALI?'
The Office of the Ombudsman will look into alleged irregularities in the procurement and award for the design and architectural services as well as the construction of the Makati City Hall Building 2.
The P11.9-million contract for the building project supposedly did not undergo public bidding.
Binay and his father are facing plunder and graft charges for the alleged overpricing in the building's construction.
Binay criticized the Ombudsman for supposedly not giving him a chance to defend himself, similar to the proceedings of the Senate blue ribbon subcommittee also investigating the corruption allegations against him and his father.
"Bakit po ba sila nagmamadali? Wala namang mawawala sa kanila kung kikilalanin nila ang aming mga karapatan at hahayaan kaming sumagot sa hinaing reklamo," he said.
He said he will exhaust all legal remedies to fight the suspension order slapped against him.
He also said he will remain in his post and continue discharging his duties as mayor of Makati City.
'PATENTLY ILLEGAL'
His lawyer, Atty. Claro Certeza, said they have before the Court of Appeals (CA) a petition for certiorari questioning the resolution of the Ombudsman, which he branded as "patently illegal" and "merely based on the mere say-so of one or two persons."
He said they are also asking for the issuance of a temporary restraining order (TRO). He said that until such time that their prayer for TRO is decided upon by the court, the suspension order against the mayor cannot be implemented.
"Maliwanag po: the mayor is duly elected by hundreds and thousands of Makati residents...So sana respetuhin din nila ang desisyon ng Makati electorate at huwag dahil sa sabi ng kung sinu-sino ay basta na lang tatanggalin ang ating mayor," Certeza said.
Binay said they are hoping that the court will be fair to them. "I may belong to the opposition [but] I'm still entitled to my rights like any Filipino citizen," he said.
He then urged his constituents to remain calm despite the recent developments. "Alam po natin ang katotohanan. Alam natin kung sino ang mga nagsisinungaling. Alam natin na nasa panig natin ang batas at ang buong katotohanan," Binay said.
MAR: NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW
Meanwhile, Roxas said he has yet to see the suspension order issued by the Ombudsman, noting that he spent the whole day at Camp Crame and then later went to the Department of National Defense (DND) for a meeting on internal security measures.
But the secretary nonetheless stressed that his department will implement orders issued by legal authorities. He added that no one, including himself, is above the law.
"Gayunpaman, sa lahat ng bagay gagawin namin, ang aming trabaho tulad ng pagpapatupad ng orders mula sa legal authorities tulad ng RTC (Regional Trial Court), Sandigan, CA, Ombudsman, Comelec (Commission on Elections) at iba pa," Roxas said.
"Kailangan natin lahat respetuhin ang batas at mga kautusang legal. Walang sinuman, kahit ako, ang mataas sa batas," he added.
No comments:
Post a Comment