Makati Vice Mayor Peña ready, but not raring, to be acting mayor

This time, Makati Vice Mayor Romulo "Kid" Peña Jr. is in no hurry to sit as acting city mayor over a second suspension order issued against Makati Mayor Junjun Binay.

He said, however, that he is ready to assume the post once the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) tells him to.

 

"I think they have to set an example. They should abide by the rule of law. I am not there to get his position," Peña told GMA News Online in a text message. 

 

"It (prevention suspension) is only temporary because of the investigation... We expect them to follow the order of the Ombudsman. The constituents of Makati will be the judge of their actions," he added. 

 

Peña said he has yet to talk to DILG Secretary Manuel "Mar" Roxas II — a fellow member of the Liberal Party — about assuming the duties of acting mayor.

 

Mayor Binay has said he will defy the six-month prevention suspension order against him and 14 other officials of the Makati City government in connection with their supposed involvement in the allegedly overpriced construction of a Makati Science High School building.

 

Last March, the Office of the Ombudsman also issued a suspension order against Binay due to the allegedly overpriced Makati City Hall Building II. 

 

At that time, Peña took his oath as acting city mayor less than two hours after the DILG served the suspension order. 

 

He stayed on as acting city mayor despite the temporary restraining order issued by the Court of Appeals on Binay's suspension upon the directive of the DILG. 

 

The DILG has confirmed that it has received the second suspension order issued by the Ombudsman against Binay and other city government officials. 

 

It said it will implement the suspension order "in the most expeditious and peaceable way." 

 

The DILG, however, did not specify when it intends to serve the order. 

 

Mayor Binay's supporters have already flocked to the city hall as they plan to spend the night to block the suspension order on their mayor. — Kathrina Charmaine Alvarez/JDS, GMA News