January 16, 2025

Emmanuel "Manny" F. Piñol

Official Website

SWS SURVEY SAYS 8 OUT OF 10 WANT BINAY TO FACE SENATE PROBE

By Manny Pinol
For weeks now, following the expose on his alleged unexplained wealth and corruption in the city of Makati when he was mayor, embattled Vice President Jejomar Binay has somehow succeeded in avoiding the issues brushing these off as part of a political demolition job against a presidential frontrunner.
Binay and his camp have declared that he will not subject himself to the investigation of the Senate Blue Ribbon sub-committee investigating the alleged overpricing of the Makati City parking building and other acts of corruption, including the 350-hectare in Rosario, Batangas allegedly owned by the Vice President.
With the help of corrupt members of the media, Binay and his camp have succeeded in glossing over the fact that Gerry Limlingan, Binay’s alleged dummy and bagman who is a key figure in the corruption story, has disappeared and could not even be found by the National Bureau of Investeigation.
The media have also ignored a damming proof that Vice President Binay lied about the ownership of the controversial Hacienda Binay in Rosario, Batangas.
Contrary to his recent pubic pronouncements, backed up by his spokesmen, that the Rosario property was just leased from the real owners, a recorded interview made by journalist Raissa Robles of the South China Morning Post in 2010, Binay was heard admitting that he owns the property and that he bought it for P30 per square meter.
Vice President Binay’s strategy in avoiding a face-off with his accusers, however, seems to have backfired lately.
A survey conducted by the Social Weather Station (SWS) said that 8 out of every 10 person who responded to the survey said they would like Binay to face the Senate probers.
With the masses, who reportedly make up the bulk of Binay’s supporters, now fed up with the antics of the Vice President and his camp, he will have to think of new strategies to avoid a direct confrontation with his accusers.
As of the last media report, Binay and his camp have maintained they will not appear in the Senate investigation.
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21-Year-Old Cotabato Airport: Sad Story Of Childish Politics Twenty-one years after work on the Cotabato Rural Airport was started and 15 years after the Runway and Terminal Building construction were completed, it remains unused, a sad testament to the evils of petty and childish politics which had prevailed in North Cotabato. For people to truly understand this tragic narrative of a project which could have brought progress to the province, here is the historical account of the Mlang Airport Project: 1. I was a young Mayor of Mlang (1995-1998) when I envisioned the growth of my town into an agro-industrlialized city and thought an Airport would be critical in realizing that vision; 2. With the help of the Vice Mayor then, Luigi Buenaflor Cuerpo, whose family owned most of the areas in the former Hacienda de Tomas Buenaflor, I presented the idea to the elders of the clan and they loved the idea but since there were no funds available for the project, it remained just a dream; 3. In 1998, after one term as Mayor of Mlang, I was elected Governor of North Cotabato and I pursued the vision of building an airport in my hometown; 4. In 2003, the Sangguniang Panlalawigan authorized the purchase of 62 hectares of land in the former Hacienda Buenaflor for the purpose of building the airport; 5. With an initial P30-M Grant Fund which was provided by then Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo sourced from the Department of Energy (which at the time, operated the Mt. Apo Geothermal Project), the project was started in 2004; 6. By 2007, my term as Governor ended and I was succeeded by Governor Jesus N. Sacdalan. I served as his Vice Governor. Gov. Sacdalan continued the project; 7. In 2009, the Runway and Terminal Building of the Mlang Airport were completed and Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo arrived for the blessing and inauguration; 8. In the 2010 elections, Gov. Sacdalan ran for Congress in the 1st District of the Province while I attempted to regain the Governorship but I lost to then Congresswoman Emmylou Taliño-Santos (now Mendoza); That was when work at the Airport was stopped and to justify the suspension of the Airport Development, the new administration claimed that the documents covering the purchase of the land were not perfect. I was accused of owning the land which was, of course, ridiculous and false. It was also claimed that the project was started without a Feasibility Study which again is a big lie, for how would it be given a budget if there was no study conducted. In fact, I made a public declaration that I was willing to help perfect the documents if they needed my signature on the alleged incomplete documents but my offer was ignored. In 2019, when former Congresswoman Nancy Catamco won as Governor, the alleged missing documents were recovered or reconstructed and perfected. That was when work was started again in the airport. Unfortunately, in 2022, Gov. Catamco lost in a tightly contested election to then Vice Governor Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza before she could turn over the Airport Land Property which is owned by the Provincial Government to the Dept. of Transportation and the Civil Aeronautics Authority of the Philippines for it to be operational. The incumbent Governor is the Chairman of the Regional Development Council and she could have given utmost priority to the completion of Airport. Access to funds for the completion of the project would not be difficult because Speaker Martin Romualdez is the nephew-in-law of her husband, TUCP Partylist Congressman Raymond Mendoza. The real reason why the Mlang Airport Development has dragged for 21 years is because it is identified as the Brainchild and Pet Project of former Governor Manny Piñol and the current leadership dread the thought of seeing planes loaded with passengers and fruits from Cotabato to the big cities and the people giving credit to Piñol for initiating the project. The airport is for the people of North Cotabato now and the next generation and I would not care if she names it after her grandfather or whoever. This narrative is my account of the real story behind the delay in the completion of the Central Mindanao Airport which I know will be refuted by the other party. So, here is my challenge: Let’s hold a Public Debate/Forum on the real and true reasons behind the delay in the completion of the Central Mindanao Airport. I am willing to face anybody from their side in that debate, anytime and anywhere. The People of North Cotabato deserve to know the truth. #WeDontOwnGovernment! #TheTruthWillSetUsFree!