Jejomar Binay
Jejomar Binay

VP can now start hitting back, says daughter

THEY made him a punching bag. He’s bruised, he’s tired that’s why he quit.

Makati City Rep. Mar-len Abigail Binay on Monday made the statement as she explained why her father, Vice President Jejomar Binay, resigned from President Aquino’s Cabinet.

“Alam niyo ho yung parang boxing na lagi ka na lang sinusuntok pero di ka makasuntok pabalik? ‘Yun ho ang sinasabi kong pagod. Ginawa po siyang punching bag [It’s like a boxing match where your opponent keeps on jabbing and punching and you couldn’t retaliate. That’s what I meant when I said that he’s tired. They made him a political punching bag],” the younger Binay told radio station dzMM.

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It was Abigail, the second eldest child of the Vice President, who hand-delivered her father’s resignation letter to the office of Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. She was accompanied by the Vice President’s chief of staff, Benjamin Martinez Jr.

Binay headed the housing cluster as chairman of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council in the Aquino Cabinet as well as serving as the presidential adviser on overseas Filipino workers affairs.

Malacañang confirmed Binay’s resignation.

In a statement, Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said Ochoa immediately gave Binay’s letter to the President.

Aquino then called Binay to confirm his resignation.

“Secretary Ochoa will formalize acceptance of the Vice President’s

resignation,” Coloma told reporters.

In a statement, Binay’s spokesman, Joey Salgado, said the resignation was “irrevocable.”

He added that Ochoa received the letter around 3:55 p.m., Monday.

Rep. Binay said the Vice President can now freely speak against the Aquino administration now that he’s been “liberated.”

“Ngayon, makakapagbigay sya ng polisiya niya. He can now freely criticize the government kung saan nagkukulang ([e can now say what his policy is. He can now freely criticize the government]” she said.

The younger Binay added that the Vice President is firm on his decision to resign.

“This is voluntary. No one can make him change his mind,” she said.

According to the lawmaker, her father holds no rancor against the President.

“Sa tingin ko, personally, hindi kay President PNoy, kundi po sa grabeng paninira sa amin. Doon ho sya naaapektuhan. Hindi ho dahil may galit kay PNoy o may personal na issue kay PNoy [Personally, I think it’s not with President Aquino but those who made stories against us, it badly affected him. It’s not because he’s angry at the President or he has a personal issue against Pnoy],” she said.

When asked whether her father continues to hold a grudge against his 2010 elections rival and possible opponent in next year’s elections, Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas 2nd, Abigail replied in jest, “Sino ‘yon [Who’s he]?”