Binay: Peña grabbed credit for tax success

MANILA, Philippines - The camp of suspended Makati Mayor Jejomar Erwin Binay Jr. yesterday slammed acting Mayor Romulo Peña Jr. for allegedly grabbing the credit for the city’s high tax collection from January to August this year.

“Having been in his post for barely two months at the time the total income of the city was tallied, it was presumptuous, if not downright brazen, of Peña to attribute the 90 percent attainment of this year’s target total income of the city to his administration,” Joey Salgado, the suspended mayor’s spokesman said in a statement.

 “This is a clear example of credit-grabbing, something that the acting mayor and his people have been doing for the past weeks,” he added.

Salgado alleged that Peña has claimed “authorship of such programs as the yellow card and benefits for senior citizens, which began under the leadership of Vice President Binay and continued by Mayor Junjun Binay.”

The city treasurer’s office reported that as of Aug. 20, Makati has collected 90 percent of its target revenue collection of P12.3 billion for the year.

Salgado said records show Makati has consistently increased its annual revenue collection over the past two decades, consistently exceeded its target revenue collection and has never incurred a deficit in over two decades under the Binay administration. 

Meanwhile, Salgado also hit Peña’s “flagrant misuse of government funds,” for spending millions of the city’s funds on print advertisements that are aimed for his self-promotion.

He said the print advertisements are clearly a case of using government funds for personal use, which is not allowed by the Commission on Audit.