Heaven help the Philippines if Binay becomes president

I cannot understand why the family of Vice President Jejomar Binay is upset over Interior Secretary Mar Roxas’ implementation of the order of the Office of the Ombudsman to suspend Makati Mayor Junjun Binay.

In case the family missed the point, it was Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales, not Roxas, who issued the suspension order. Once it was released, it became the duty and responsibility of the Department of Interior and Local Government, which is led by Roxas, to implement it. Since when did it become wrong for someone to do his job?

The Binays should really stop blaming President Aquino, Roxas and politics as the main cause of all their problems. If the reports are true that they used the public coffers of Makati City as if it were their own personal bank account, then in all honesty I say, they brought this situation they’re in now upon themselves. Their insistence to not follow the orders of the Ombudsman was very much in character; in their previous actions they had shown that they think and feel they are above the law. If they can make a mockery of our country’s rule of law now, one could just imagine what would happen to our country if Vice President Binay does become our president in 2016. Heaven help the Philippines.

—HARVEY S. KEH, executive director, Institute for Governance and Strategic Partnerships, [email protected]