Bayan forthright, not silent on Binay controversy

THIS REFERS to the news article titled “Leftists break silence, come out swinging at Binay” (News, 5/17/15), specifically to two factual errors, one of which was clearly biased, if not malicious.

1. That we “kept quiet” last year, when Vice President Jejomar Binay was being hit by allegations of corruption. Please note that in September last year, Bayan issued a statement calling on Binay to fully respond to the charges against him. In that statement we said: “The allegations are scandalous even as they are not unusual…. It is no secret that overpricing, kickbacks and rigged biddings in government projects are the rule rather than the exception in practically all national agencies and local government units.” Since then, that position has been articulated by Bayan’s leaders in various fora and media interviews. The May 16, 2015 statement was precisely in reaction to the latest turn of events, which was the Anti-Money Laundering Council’s report on alleged bank and other accounts of the Vice President and persons associated with him, containing billions of pesos.

2. That Bayan opposed the Senate inquiry into the Makati City Hall Parking Building 2. To be clear, we never opposed the Senate inquiry. We were being forthright, however, in stating the following: “It is clearly hypocritical for President Aquino to unleash his attack dogs against VP Binay and other leaders of the opposition while shielding himself and his allies from similar demands and mechanisms for accountability.”

Worse, in a clear case of editorializing, the news report concluded that the Left is now “singing a different tune” after being criticized for its “deafening silence” on Binay.

Since last year, Bayan has always been consistent in its stand: that the Binays should be investigated and properly charged in court should there be sufficient evidence. In the same manner but even more so, we insist that the Aquino administration should be held accountable for the large-scale, unchecked fund-juggling and outright corruption (involving the Disbursement Acceleration Program, Priority Development Assistance Fund, Malampaya Fund, and other public funds) that are already backed by a substantial trail of evidence and Supreme Court rulings. Lahat ng sangkot, dapat managot!

As an alliance that seeks fundamental, democratic reforms in government and society, Bayan is committed to fighting corruption especially at the highest levels of governance. Due to our unrelenting fight against bureaucrat capitalism, we have ended up opposing every elitist, corrupt government since the Marcos dictatorship. For the Inquirer to misrepresent Bayan as taking up the cudgels for Vice President Binay for some self-serving reason or ill-defined gain is truly a disservice both to its readers and the public at large.

—TEDDY CASIÑO,

spokesperson,

Bagong Alyansang Makabayan