Mayor Binay: City councilors' suspension next

MANILA, Philippines - Makati Mayor Jejomar Erwin Binay on Friday bared an alleged plan by the Office of the Ombudsman to also suspend all the members of the city council following the filing of charges.

Binay told reporters that once all the city’s councilors are suspended, the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) will put in place an officer-in-charge.

Binay said if this pushes through, it would be a circumvention of the mandate of the voters in Makati City. Binay did not elaborate as to what charges will be filed against the city councilors.

"Dapat respetuhin ang mandato ng nakakarami hindi ang gusto ng iilan," Binay said.

Binay said the goal for his suspension is to keep him out of office until the 2016 elections.

"They want to suspend me so I won't be able to complete my term until 2016. In the supposed second wave of suspensions, according to our sources, they intend to suspend all the councilors who were also elected by the people of Makati," Binay said.

Meanwhile, Binay again lashed at the DILG for being selective in enforcing suspension orders, saying there had been cases where the agency did not enforce suspension orders involving party members and allies.

"It is a manifestation that implementation can be selective," he said.

Binay had asked the Court of Appeals to issue a temporary restraining order on the suspension order issued by the Ombudsman.

Binay said the order is void, since it suspends him for actions done during the previous local administration where he was not even the mayor.