VP Binay helped Magdalo soldiers but not with Manila Pen siege – Remulla

The camp of Vice President Jejomar Binay on Thursday said that it did help some soldiers from the Magdalo group that participated in mutinies against the Arroyo administration.

The assistance, though, was not in planning a coup but in hiring them as workers at Binay's piggery in Rosario, Batangas.

Cavite Governor Jonvic Remulla, Binay's spokesman for political concerns, revealed that some members of the Magdalo group that led the Manila Peninsula siege in 2007 have worked on the Vice President's piggery in the controversial 350-hectare property in Rosario, Batangas.

The sprawling property that is allegedly owned by the vice president is one the subjects of a Senate blue ribbon subcommittee inquiry.

"Pagkatapos 'nung attempted coup d'etat sa Oakwoood at sa Peninsula humingi ng tulong 'yung mga sundalong nasalanta, silang mga naapektuhan dahil sa ginawa nila, nawalan ng trabaho, kinupkop ni vice president 'yan, tinulungan at binigyan ng trabaho," he said.

"At 'yung iba doon, inassign doon para magbantay ng babuyan," he added.

He did not elaborate on how many of the 43 soldiers worked in the piggery, which Binay said he has been leasing from the corporation that owns the property.

In a separate text message, Binay's other spokesman Joey Salgado told GMA News Online that no Magdalo soldier is currently employed in the piggery.

Remulla disclosed this information to the media after he claimed that Senator Antonio "Sonny" Trillanes IV, one of the members of the Magdalo group, supposedly intended to show the soldiers working inside the controversial property.

Meanwhile, Remulla reiterated that the vice president did not participate in planning the 2007 coup d'état.

"He was asked to participate but he declined," he said.

On Tuesday, Senator Trillanes said that Binay backed out from participating in the protest march against the Arroyo administration, an incident now known as the Manila Peninsula siege. — Rouchelle R. Dinglasan/JDS, GMA News