PNoy to keep hands off Binays troubles

It looks like President Aquino will not interfere or lift a finger to save Vice President
Jejomar Binay from the latest corruption controversy hounding him.
Malacaang has kept a hands-off policy on the Senate inquiry into the alleged anomalies
implicating Binay, mostly recently the P200-million kickbacks he allegedly received from a
land deal between the Boy Scouts of the Philippines (BSP) and a private real estate firm.
We recognize the Senates right to conduct hearings in aid of legislation and in line with
its oversight functions, Presidential Communications Operations Secretary Herminio Coloma
Jr. said.
The President has previously expressed his thoughts on the ongoing inquiry pertaining
the Vice President. He has made no new statements on the most recent hearing, he added.
Coloma was reacting to media queries if the Palace believes in the innocence of Binay
and would encourage him to attend the Senate probe to address the charges.
In a hearing conducted by the Senate blue ribbon subcommittee, former Makati Vice
Mayor Ernesto Mercado accused Binay of taking P200 million in kickback from a land deal
between the BSP and Alphaland Corp. for the development of a BSP property in Makati. The
erstwhile ally of Binay claimed that the kickback was supposedly used in Binays vice
presidential campaign in 2010.
Binay, president of the BSP, has denied benefitting from the project and criticized the
supposed unfair Senate proceedings aimed at discrediting him in the 2016 polls.
A few months ago, the embattled Vice President sought a closed-door meeting with
President Aquino in his residence in Manila and supposedly asked him to persuade his
Senate allies to stop the probe against him.
The President later admitted that he relayed Binays message to Senate President
Franklin Drilon while conceding that nobody can dictate on the independent senators. The
President was criticized by some groups for allegedly protecting Binay, a known close friend
of the Aquino family, from the corruption scandal.
At the end of his visit to Beijing, China late last year, the President pushed for swift
resolution to the Senate inquiry on Binay, saying the piecemeal probe was taking time away
from pending priority bills. Aquino expressed hope that all evidence will be presented in one
sweep, not in dribs and drabs.
When asked if the Presidents call for a swift probe on Binay still stands, Coloma recently
admitted that nothing has changed in the Presidents stance.