DILG receives 2nd suspension order vs Mayor Binay

MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) – The Ombudsman has ordered the suspension of Makati Mayor Jejomar Erwin Binay a second time on Monday, June 29, over graft allegations involving yet another overpriced building.

Interior and Local Government Secretary Manuel Roxas II confirmed to Rappler that, “Per DILG (Department of the Interior and Local Government), they received an Ombudsman order re: Makati mayor at 10:10 this AM.”

Roxas added: “Upon checking, Ombudsman itself also sent its own team to Makati to implement the same.”

As of 2:25 pm Monday, Makati public information chief Joey Salgado said a National Capital Region police team was on its way to serve the suspension order. 

This is the second suspension order against the mayor, whose father, Vice President Jejomar Binay, is running for president in 2016. The Vice President quit the Aquino Cabinet exactly a week ago today.

The Ombudsman first suspended Mayor Binay in March this year over an allegedly anomalous contract in the construction of a Makati City Hall building. The Court of Appeals, however, immediately stopped the suspension, issuing a 60-day restraining order, and later on issued an indefinite injunction on it.

The Binay camp had prior information about the second order, releasing a statement early Monday.

Binay’s lawyer Claro Certeza hit the second suspension, saying there was no factual or legal basis to recommend charges against the city mayor.

In a Senate hearing last November 2014, whistleblowers claimed the 10-storey Makati Science High School building was overpriced by around P862 million. This became the basis of the second suspension order issued by the Ombudsman. – Rappler.com