Commission that will probe Arroyo offered to Binay

Vice President-elect Jejomar Binay had been offered four government posts — including head of a commission that will investigate outgoing President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo — by President-elect Benigno “Noynoy" Aquino III. Binay, however, accepted none to avoid making his appointment “a politically contentious issue," according to a GMA News report Thursday afternoon. Aside from the head of the soon-to-be-formed investigating panel, Binay had also been offered to lead the Department of Agrarian Reform, of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC), and of Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), a position he held during the administrations of Aquino's mother, the late Corazon "Cory" Aquino, and Joseph Estrada, his running mate in the May 10 elections. The offers were made during a nearly two-hour meeting between Binay and Aquino at the president-elect's residence on Times Street in Quezon City last Wednesday, according to the GMA News' John Consulta. Binay said in a letter to Aquino before they met that his appointment to any Cabinet post “has become a politically contentious issue" within the president-elect’s party. He reportedly said this was the reason why he declined all the offers. Binay’s camp likewise sent a text message to the media on Wednesday which said that he would no longer seek a Cabinet post to enable Aquino "to focus on the many challenges facing the nation." Aquino and Binay ran under different parties during the May 10 polls. Aquino was the Liberal Party’s standard-bearer, while Binay ran under the Puwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP) party of Estrada. Despite not being appointed to the incoming Aquino Cabinet, Binay assured that he would use his mandate as vice president-elect to serve the country. Binay has deep ties to the Aquino family that go back to the Marcos era when he was a street parliamentarian and a human rights activist. When Aquino's mother, the late President Corazon "Cory" Aquino, assumed office in 1986, Binay was named officer-in-charge of Makati, a post he or his wife, Elenita, would occupy for more than two decades. During the 1987 coup attempt, Binay was among the first local officials to go to Malacañang to defend Mrs. Aquino from the military rebels. Heavily armed and ready for combat, he was nicknamed Rambotito, also a reference to his small physical stature. In recent history, Mrs. Aquino in 1986, Estrada in 1998 and Mrs. Arroyo in 2001, were the only presidents to give their respective vice presidents Cabinet posts. In Mrs. Aquino's time, the late Salvador "Doy" Laurel was named foreign affairs minister. On the other hand, Mrs. Arroyo named Teofisto Guingona Jr. foreign affairs secretary. Both Laurel and Guingona, however, had a falling out with their respective presidents, which resulted in their resignations from the Cabinet. On the other hand, then Vice President Arroyo was named social welfare secretary during the short-lived Estrada presidency. She resigned in late 2000 at the height of the jueteng scandal. She eventually succeeded Estrada in January 2001 following a military-backed civilian uprising. In 1992, President Fidel Ramos did not give then Vice President Estrada any Cabinet post, but named the latter head of the Presidential Anti-Crime Commission (PACC). In 2004, Mrs. Arroyo also did not give Vice President Noli de Castro any Cabinet portfolio, only designating him as the administration's housing czar. — KBK/RSJ, GMANews.TV