Binay: Local govt center goes on after Pimentel resignation

PAMPANGA, Philippines – Vice President Jejomar Binay said there is no reason to close down the Pimentel Institute for Leadership and Governance despite the resignation of the man it was named after. 

Binay responded to the resignation of former Senate Aquilino “Nene” Pimentel Jr from the center, which the Vice President set up at the University of Makati in honor of his former political ally and friend of 3 decades.

The former Makati mayor offered to create the institute known as the Pimentel Center to continue Pimentel’s local governance advocacy after the so-called father of the Local Government Code retired from politics in 2010.  The institute trains leaders to help improve local governance.

Pimentel confirmed to Rappler he resigned from the Center last week. The resignation followed Binay’s decision to leave the party they led for 32 years, the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) without even informing him and his son, party president Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III.

Binay commented on the development at the sidelines of his dialogue with victims of the alleged Globe Asiatique P7 billion housing scam here on Monday, March 10.  

“Oh ‘di itutuloy. Alam mo, hindi naman porque umalis siya hindi itutuloy.” (We will continue the center. Just because he left, it doesn’t mean we won’t continue.)

Asked if he will now name the institute “Binay Center,” the Vice President said he was open to retaining the current name.

“Hindi naman. Pimentel, sa kanya pinangalanan eh.” (Not necessarily. Pimentel, it was named after him.)

Pimentel’s resignation is the latest in a series of events marking the estrangement of the two political families, which shared a long history. Pimentel and Binay were the founders of PDP-Laban and were together in the anti-Marcos movement during martial law. (READ: Binay-Pimentel: The ties that bind)

The rift began ahead of the 2013 polls when Binay accepted into his opposition United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) senatorial slate resigned Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri despite the strong opposition of Senator Pimentel, who accused Zubiri of electoral fraud in 2007. The younger Pimentel bolted UNA over the decision and ran under the administration slate Team PNoy.

This did not sit well with Binay, who announced two weeks ago that he was forming a new political party for his 2016 presidential bid. He said PDP-Laban became “dysfunctional,” and that he and Pimentel only spoke “through newspapers.” Binay also refused to send PDP-Laban a resignation letter despite the request of Pimentel. 

The elder Pimentel said he did not know Binay was leaving PDP-Laban. “He has not [told me] and he doesn’t have to. I am no longer active in party politics. When he makes his move public, it will be fair game for all.”

Pimentel offered to resign even before

In a previous interview with Rappler, former Senator Pimentel said as early as 2012, he already sent Binay a letter offering to resign from the Pimentel Center when reports surfaced that Zubiri will join UNA. Yet Binay then told him they should separate politics from academics.

Back then, Pimentel fondly recalled how Binay convinced him to lead the center even two years before he retired.

“He said, ‘Can we ask you to run a center for local governance here at the University of Makati and we will name if after you? It should be Pimentel.’ I said, ‘You don’t need to name it Pimentel. A center is okay with me.’ He said, ‘No, there should be branding, you don’t know branding.’”

Pimentel said he was then focused on his work as senator and forgot about Binay’s offer. When he retired in 2010, Binay again broached the topic.  

“I said, ‘I will be the one to meet you. You’re vice president now.’ He said no so here comes Jojo seeking me out in Sulo Hotel where I had a press forum and after that presscon, we talked about it and that is how it came about that I’m here,” Pimentel said in the interview at the Center.

Despite the long relationship, Pimentel stood by his stand criticizing UNA for considering Zubiri as candidate.

“What I am worried about is the misapprehension of people that I am not forceful enough in speaking out because I am here. I don’t want that to happen so if it means I have to cut off my connections, I will do so,” former Senator Pimentel said then.

“I don’t believe in winning at all costs in politics. ‘Di ko kayang lununin iyon.” (I cannot stomach that.) – Rappler.com