{"id":713120,"date":"2015-08-15T03:47:04","date_gmt":"2015-08-14T19:47:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsinfo.inquirer.net\/?p=713120"},"modified":"2015-08-15T03:47:04","modified_gmt":"2015-08-14T19:47:04","slug":"binay-camp-low-rating-from-only-67-rich-traders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsinfo.inquirer.net\/713120\/binay-camp-low-rating-from-only-67-rich-traders","title":{"rendered":"Binay camp: Low rating from only 67 rich traders"},"content":{"rendered":"
Vice President Jejomar Binay. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO<\/p><\/div>\n\n
He\u2019s serving the poor, not the rich.<\/p>\n\n
This was how the office of Vice President Jejomar Binay explained his bottom-rung rating by the Makati Business Club (MBC).<\/p>\n\n
Having been spurned by the most influential organization of businessmen in Makati City, the office of Binay has decided to pay no heed to MBC\u2019s survey rating that its office is the worst performing government agency.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cWith all due respect, 67 wealthy businessmen in Makati cannot represent the sentiment of our people nationwide,\u201d said Binay\u2019s spokesperson Joey Salgado.<\/p>\n\n
READ: Binay camp downplays \u2018worst agency\u2019 tag from \u2018biased\u2019 businessmen<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n \u201cThe Office of the Vice President (OVP) is serving our poor citizens and not the affluent members of the Makati Business Club,\u201d he said in a statement that was a sustained diatribe against the business leaders of the country\u2019s premier business district, Binay\u2019s supposed bailiwick where he and members of his family have been holding key elective posts for almost three decades<\/p>\n\n Salgado said the opinions of the Makati businessmen had little worth, saying \u201cthey cannot be expected to give a true and objective assessment of the performance of all government agencies, most especially the OVP.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Concerns over corruption<\/strong><\/p>\n\n In its latest Executive Outlook Survey, the Office of the Vice President pulled the lowest net satisfaction rating of -76.3, dropping 31 notches from last year\u2019s poll, to finish last among the 64 government agencies surveyed.<\/p>\n\n The MBC survey polled senior executives of 67 corporations and other entities from July 6 to Aug. 7 to assess the performance of the government agencies from July 2014 to July 2015. The respondents represented 16.6 percent of the MBC\u2019s 404 corporate members.<\/p>\n\n MBC executive director Peter Angelo Perfecto said the huge drop from last year\u2019s survey may be a reflection of the businessmen\u2019s concern over the corruption allegations against Binay and his son, Makati Mayor Junjun Binay.<\/p>\n\n Binay, his son and associates in the Makati government have been at the center of a yearlong Senate blue ribbon subcommittee investigation into alleged overpricing and irregularities in various Makati infrastructure projects and allegations of unexplained wealth. The Makati mayor is serving a six-month suspension while under investigation for his alleged involvement in the allegedly overpriced Makati Science Building.<\/p>\n\n Lies and gossip<\/strong><\/p>\n\n According to Salgado, there are MBC members with long-held biases against the Vice President and his family.<\/p>\n\n \u201cApparently the MBC members are predisposed to believe every lie and gossip against the Vice President,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n He said MBC officials, like its executive director, were present when President Aquino announced his endorsement of Interior Secretary Mar Roxas as the presidential standard-bearer of the ruling Liberal Party (LP).<\/p>\n\n \u201cThe MBC are the businessmen who have profited from this administration\u2019s economic policy that embraces the rich and excludes the poor. They want to continue the inequality under an administration that is \u2018probusiness,\u2019\u201d Salgado said.<\/p>\n\n \u201cThey do not have the knowledge or competence to assess the OVP mainly because they are in favor of a candidate who will just continue to make them richer,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Higher marks questioned<\/strong><\/p>\n\n He said the MBC was selective when it gave high marks to agencies that deal directly with the business sector.<\/p>\n\n \u201cThe Department of Budget and Management fared better than the OVP when businessmen and economists have openly complained about the anemic spending that has a put a drag on the economy,\u201d Salgado said.<\/p>\n\n Salgado took particular issue with the higher score obtained by the Department of Transportation and Communications (DoTC), an agency first headed by Binay\u2019s rival, Roxas, and now by another LP member, Emilio Abaya.<\/p>\n\n \u201cThe DOTC is the showcase of ineptitude, incompetence and is a threat to public safety, not to mention a cash cow for LP allies,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n Salgado said the Makati businessmen [who presumably gave Binay\u2019s office a low rating] had not felt the health programs of the OVP because they can afford to pay for medical and hospital care in the country and abroad.<\/p>\n\n \u201cBut most of our countrymen cannot. If they are facing legal problems, members of the MBC can easily hire expensive lawyers. Our OFWs (overseas Filipino workers) and their families cannot,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n OVP defended<\/strong><\/p>\n\n Salgado defended the operations of Binay\u2019s office, which was given charge of the country\u2019s housing program and of OFWs\u2019 affairs.<\/p>\n\n He claimed that the OVP has the lowest budget allocation of all the government agencies.<\/p>\n\n But despite this limitation, the OVP has helped 6,044 indigent clients pay for their dialysis, hospital bills, chemotherapy sessions, medicines, surgery and other procedures, and hearing aids, he said.<\/p>\n\n The OVP also provided educational support to 9,700 elementary school pupils nationwide, mostly children from indigenous communities, Salgado said.<\/p>\n\n He said the OVP assisted 1,588 OFWs in 2014, with requests for assistance ranging from repatriation, salary and benefits claims, legal help for detained OFWs, and grievances against recruiters and agents.<\/p>\n\n \u201cAnd while we do welcome an honest appraisal of our work, we are satisfied more by the simple gestures of thanks from those whom we have served: a letter of thanks from an OFW awaiting repatriation, a warm embrace and the words maraming salamat [thank you] from a grateful mother,\u201d Salgado said.<\/p>\n\n The MBC\u2019s board of trustees include Ramon del Rosario Jr. (Philippine Investment Management Inc.), Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala (Ayala Corp. chair and CEO), Roberto de Ocampo (Philippine Veterans Bank chair); Aurelio Montinola III (Bank of the Philippine Islands director) and Ricardo Romulo (Romulo Mabanta Buenaventura Sayoc and De Los Angeles senior partner) as corporate secretary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n PAGE BREAK<\/p>\n\n\n\n Attacks vs Aquino<\/strong><\/p>\n\n Malaca\u00f1ang on Friday said Binay\u2019s attacks against the Aquino administration after he resigned from the Cabinet may have contributed to the decline in his satisfaction rating among the MBC members.<\/p>\n\n \u201cOn the observation that the Office of the Vice President is among those that registered the largest declines in satisfaction rating, it may be reasonable to infer that this represents the negative feedback of the business community on the Vice President\u2019s criticisms against the administration in the aftermath of his resignation from the Cabinet,\u201d Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said in a statement.<\/p>\n\n Coloma noted that the business community had rated the Office of the President better in the latest survey.<\/p>\n\n \u201cThe Office of the President improved its standing from 36 to 27, with a net satisfaction score of +29.5,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n \u201cThe survey results mirror and affirm the vote of confidence extended by the international community to the country as reflected in successive upgrades in investment rating, as well as significant improvement in global competitiveness rankings,\u201d Coloma said.<\/p>\n\n DFA\u2019s steadfast stand<\/strong><\/p>\n\n He took particular note of the business community\u2019s positive feedback on the Department of Foreign Affairs\u2019 (DFA) handling of the South China Sea maritime dispute.<\/p>\n\n Coloma said the DFA obtained \u201cbroad-based support for its steadfast stand on a rules-based and diplomatic approach to dispute resolution pertaining to maritime entitlement issues in the West Philippine Sea.\u201d<\/p>\n\n The state weather bureau also \u201cearned well-deserved commendation for its accurate and reliable weather forecasting that is the linchpin of the country\u2019s determined efforts to reduce risks and protect the lives and safety of our people,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n Even the Civil Service Commission made it to the top 10 government agencies \u201con account of its campaign to instill a strong public service orientation among national government agencies rendering frontline services to the people,\u201d Coloma said. With a report from Nikko Dizon<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n RELATED STORIES<\/p>\n Makati businessmen: VP office worst agency<\/a> <\/strong><\/p>\n