Binay camp hits Palace for supporting calls for VP’s appointees to resign

Malacañang's support for calls for courtesy resignations of the appointees of Vice President Jejomar Binay has stirred the VP's camp, forcing it on Sunday to defend the appointed officials by brandishing their competence and qualifications.

Almost a week after the vice president quit his Cabinet posts, Joey Salgado, head of the Office of the Vice President media affairs, said VP Binay is “saddened” that Malacañang has thrown its support behind calls for resignation.

He said the heads of housing agencies are presidential appointees while some of the board members either have fixed terms of office or are co-terminus with the President.

“Vice President Binay made recommendations based on individual qualifications and willingness to serve in government. Yet, the Palace is again adding up the so-called favors given to the Vice President,” he said in a statement.

Salgado maintained that the appointed officials of agencies under the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC), which Binay previously headed as Cabinet member, are competent professionals.

Some of them even gave up high-paying jobs in the private sector to serve in the government, he added.

“For five years they have labored quietly, instituting reforms in their agencies and fulfilling their mandate. Their accomplishments speak volumes. Yet they have been unjustly pilloried in the Senate hearings by their mere presence in agencies under the HUDCC. And now, the Palace itself has joined the inquisition,” Salgado said.

Among the officials supposedly given plum posts in the public housing sector after Binay’s appointment as housing czar are:

Courtesy resignation the 'norm'

On Saturday, deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte reminded officials in housing agencies identified with Binay that it is the “norm” for them to submit their courtesy resignations now that the vice president is no longer part of President Aquino's official family.

"My understanding is that it is the norm that in any time, I'm not referring only to the vice president, any time a Cabinet secretary resigns from a position, it is conventional for the team he brought in to tender their courtesy resignations to the president," she said on state-run dzRB radio.

While she stopped short of telling officials identified with Binay to quit, Valte said their courtesy resignation will give his successor a free hand in running the agencies concerned.

Her opinion was echoed by Senator Francis Escudero in a separate radio interview on Sunday.

On the other hand, ruling Liberal Party's vice chair for political affairs Edgar Erice said the presence of Binay’s supposed allies in government housing agencies prove the VP is not an underdog as he claims to be.

“He has already resigned but the people he has put in place in the agencies he headed are still there… and they didn’t even tender their courtesy resignation. The Vice President’s [resignation] is just a gimmick but he still controls the agencies he chaired,” he told dzBB radio on Sunday.

Loyalty over professionalism

But for Salgado, Malacañang’s support for calls for resignations is yet another affront to the vice president.

“Sinusumbatan na naman ang vice president sa usaping ito. Nagsimula sa Coconut Palace na inuupahan lamang ng Office of the Vice President, at ngayon naman sa government officials sa housing agencies. Apparently, the administration continues to put premium on political ties and loyalties rather than competence and professionalism,” he said.

Salgado said the administration appears to be favoring its allies. “Kapag hindi kakampi ng administrasyon at ng [Liberal Party], kapag namarkahan na kaalyado daw ng kaaway sa pulitika, walang puwang sa gobyerno kahit na magaling at may kakayanan. Kapag kaalyado naman ng administrasyon at ng LP, ipinagtatanggol at kinukunsinti kahit palpak at sangkot sa mga iregularidad.”

"This discredited system of palakasan and patronage in government should stop,” Salgado added. — LBG, GMA News