Aquino defends Binay's performance, won't castigate VP

MANILA, Philippines - President Benigno Aquino III sees no need to castigate Vice President Jejomar Binay, saying he has done his job as a Cabinet member despite the corruption allegations leveled against him.

In a media briefing in Leyte, Aquino confirmed that he met with Binay last week and discussed the accusations that he amassed millions of pesos in kickbacks from various projects in Makati during his term as city mayor.

Aquino denied that his friendship with Binay has ended after the latter criticized the administration for its "selective justice" in its anti-corruption campaign.

"His assignments (as Chairman of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council), he has done. 'Yung after doing his assignments, should I be castigating him? I don't think that's proper," Aquino said in the televised briefing.

Aquino recalled in their two-hour meeting at Bahay Pangarap that Binay committed to him his unwavering support until the end of their terms. The President, in turn, assured his alter-ego of due process in the government probe on him.

"We will not countenance anybody manufacturing evidence against you (Binay). We will try to keep all the processes on a very professional level," Aquino recounted.

"At the end of the day, 'yun na nga, sabi ko sa kanya, the truth will come out; and between the two of us, you will know what the truth is so, you will know what will be coming out," he also said.

Binay and his son, Makati Mayor Erwin Binay, are facing plunder and graft complaints before the Ombudsman in connection with the allegedly overpriced Makati City Hall II parking building.

Aquino said he told Binay that the Department of Justice, which he has assailed, will just be supporting the judicial process since the Ombudsman is the office mainly tasked to probe the allegations hurled against him.