PNoy: VP Binay Free to Leave Cabinet

President Benigno Aquino III on Monday presented options to Vice President Jejomar Binay after the VP’s criticisms against his administration: Present solutions or leave the Cabinet.

“Kung palagay niya may kulang, miyembro siya ng Gabinete, abisuhan niya kami,” Aquino told reporters on Monday as reported in GMA News Online.

“Kung palagay niya, mali ang direksyon namin, malaya siya na ‘di sumama sa ating kilusan,” PNoy added.

In a separate statement, Binay said he will not leave the Cabinet and still have the highest respect for President Aquino. Binay also said “he will continue to be a team player.”

Vice president Jejomar Binay is the chairman of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) and Aquino’s adviser on Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) affairs.

In his speech last October, Binay said Aquino’s administration was not doing things right after four years. He expressed criticism over the traffic congestion in Metro Manila, the looming power crisis, and the supposedly rising criminality in the country.

On his part, PNoy pointed out that Binay is obliged to present ways of solving the country’s problems, being part of the administration himself. PNoy said Binay’s solution to these problems should be brought up to the Cabinet in its regular meetings.

Binay, a strong contender in the 2016 presidential election based on surveys, is currently involved in a corruption controversy over the allegedly overpriced Makati City Hall Building II and his family’s reported ownership of a farm estate in Rosario, Batangas. Binay has denied the allegations and blamed the controversy to politics.

Source: GMA News Online