MAKATI Mayor and United Opposition (Uno) president Jejomar Binay said Tuesday the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) should instead investigate Armed Forces chief Gen. Hermogenes Esperon, after the latter admitted receiving advance intelligence reports about the walkout at the Makati court and the takeover of Manila Peninsula by the group led by Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV and Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim.

This occurred as Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno said on Tuesday that it is still premature to consider any administrative action against Binay on his possible involvement in the standoff at the Peninsula Manila Hotel in Makati City last week.

Puno said that at the moment, there is only circumstantial evidence linking Binay to the situation created by Trillanes and Lim.

Binay said that despite the advance information, Esperon did not act on the report by increasing security for the Magdalo hearing, nor did he share it with the Philippine National Police and the Makati City government officials.

This inaction, Binay said, raises very serious suspicions about the agenda of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief. “What was his reason for not sharing the information? If he had done so, then all this could have been prevented,” he added.

Sources of BusinessMirror also questioned the “unusual” shrinking of the military security detail of Trillanes last Thursday, when in previous hearings at least three truckloads would be assigned to guard them whenever they had to be brought to court hearings.

Meanwhile, the Makati Mayor also said he knew as early as Sunday morning of Justice Secretary Raul Gonzales’s plan to order the NBI to investigate his alleged link to the Manila Pen incident, and thus lay the groundwork for his suspension.

“Malacañang obviously has unfinished business with the opposition, especially with me. They now see an opportunity and are determined to resume their harassment tactics,” he said.

The NBI, according to him, was ordered to look into his alleged complicity in the incident, and also to focus initially on alleged lapses in security at the Makati City Hall. He explained that as for the alleged security lapses at City Hall, this was the responsibility of the military, and that if there was anyone who needed to give an explanation, it was the AFP chief himself.

As for his alleged involvement, Binay said he never denied there were people in his security detail who were at the Manila Peninsula. He stressed, however, that their presence there was without his approval or knowledge.

When the Trillanes episode broke out on Thursday, Binay was in Quezon City as Uno leader, having been invited to a gathering-cum-medical mission led by former President Joseph Estrada.

“Malacañang is determined to crush the legal opposition, even if it means twisting the truth in order to arrive at a justifiable, but far from factual, ground for my suspension, and similar punitive measures against opposition leaders,” Binay said.  

Asked if an administrative action would be taken by the Department of the Interior and Local Government against Binay, Puno said: “It’s too early to talk about that because all these things they’re talking about or have been reported are all circumstantial. Just because there are these reports or evidence does not mean there is complicity.”

But he also said that if Justice Secretary Gonzalez believes there is a need to investigate Binay’s possible involvement in the standoff, he would give way to it.

“If he [Gonzalez] thinks it’s warranted, then we just have to respect his decision,” Puno said.

On the call of Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Rosales for President Arroyo to listen to the grievances of Trillanes and his supporters, Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Lorelei Fajardo said in a text message that Palace officials “always pay close attention to the constructive views of our religious leaders, along with other key sectors.”

But Fajardo also said that Malacañang also listens to the “moderating voice of the great majority which has always called for adherence to constitutional processes and peaceful dialogue, which are crucial to stability and harmony in our country.”

“The President has addressed more than what Mr. Trillanes has raised….Justice is being served….Mr.Trillanes is facing legal action where he may be able to present his side and prove his innocence,” she said.

Fajardo added that the legitimacy question posed by Trillanes against the Chief Executive “has been repeatedly beaten like the proverbial dead horse.”

Rosales had earlier urged the President Arroyo to “personally and sincerely” address the issues raised by Trillanes and his supporters last week, saying it would not be wise for the administration to turn a deaf ear on the complaints if it wants to deter similar future actions.

MAKATI Mayor and United Opposition (Uno) president Jejomar Binay said Tuesday the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) should instead investigate Armed Forces chief Gen. Hermogenes Esperon, after the latter admitted receiving advance intelligence reports about the walkout at the Makati court and the takeover of Manila Peninsula by the group led by Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV and Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim.

ZAMBOANGA CITY—Troops from the military’s Western Mindanao Command (Wesmincom) joined in the manhunt for the recapture of fugitive Marine Capt. Nicanor Faeldon, who slipped from a police cordon at the height of the siege of Manila Peninsula Hotel in Makati City, the country’s business capital.

DETAINED Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV may finally get his wish to attend a Senate hearing, thanks to fellow Sen. Miriam Santiago who introduced a resolution asking the ethics committee to “punish” the failed Oakwood mutiny leader for instigating another attempted uprising at the Peninsula Manila Hotel in Makati last Thursday.

THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) still has over two years before the next electoral exercise, but it should now start cleansing the padded voters’ list of at least two million double registrations, according to Sen. Loren Legarda.

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY—The League of Cities in the Philippines (LCP) has asked the Supreme Court (SC) to look into the legality of the formation of 16 new cities throughout the country.

IT’S a double whammy for lawyer Roel Pulido.

Less than two weeks after the House justice committee laid to rest Pulido’s impeachment complaint against President Arroyo, the House ethics committee junked his other complaint against Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. in connection with his alleged role in the approval of a franchise of a broadband company owned by his son, Jose III.

THE banks may go beyond the permissible limit—50 percent with government debt papers—that a portion of their capital may be backed by peso-denominated IOUs of government. There is, however, a condition.

The United States will forever be an ally of the Philippines and it would never support any move to change the government through any other means other than what was prescribed in the Constitution, US Ambassador Kristie Kenney said on Tuesday.