Tuesday, October 17, 2006
Makati City mayor suspended for alleged abuse (11:15 a.m.)
MANILA -- The government on Tuesday suspended the mayor of Manila's financial district for alleged misconduct, angering hundreds of the opposition politician's supporters who turned up at City Hall.
Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay, an opposition stalwart who has irked President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo by allowing opposition groups to stage protests against her, has been under investigation for allegedly keeping ghost employees on the city's payroll.
Interior Department Undersecretary Wencelito Andanar said he served the suspension order early Tuesday, but Binay refused to recognize it and remained in his office surrounded by supporters.
"He slept at the City Hall. He anticipated the suspension order and he is not running away from it," the mayor's spokesman, Lito Anzures, told radio dzBB.
Binay, speaking on the same radio station, said the charges against him were politically motivated and denied the allegations.
Andanar said Binay had asked the Court of Appeals to issue a temporary restraining order even before the suspension was served in order to stay in his job. The court has yet to rule on the appeal.
Riot police were deployed around City Hall but later left after tensions subsided even though many protesters remained in the area. (AP) |
