Binay quits Cabinet post; Aquino trust ratings soar

VICE President Jejomar Binay yesterday tendered his irrevocable resignation from the Cabinet of President Aquino “effective immediately.” According to the vice president’s media affairs chief Joey Salgado, Makati Rep. Abigail Binay hand-carried the resignation letter of her father addressed to Aquino. Salgado said Rep. Binay was accompanied by Undersecretary Benjamin Martinez Jr., chief of staff of the Vice President, and Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa received the letter at around 3:55 pm.
Binay served the Aquino administration as presidential adviser on overseas Filipino workers’ concerns, and as chairman of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC).

He resigned on the same day a Pulse Asia survey was released, showing that he is the top trusted government leader despite the allegations of corruption being investigated by the Senate. Binay announced his intention to run for president right after his assumption as vice president in 2010.  The survey results showed Aquino behind Binay who recovered from his 42-percent trust rating in March to 57 percent based on the May 30-June 5 survey. The results also showed Senate President Franklin Drilon is the third most trusted, getting 45 percent, followed by Speaker Feliciano Belmonte at 28 percent. Supreme Court Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno got 27 percent.

Malacanang, meanwhile, attributed to the integrity and reliability of Aquino the recent Pulse Asia survey which showed his trust ratings improved to 50 percent from record-low of 36 percent in March. “This is a testament to the people’s confidence in the President’s integrity and reliability, and the firm resolve of this administration that no one should be left behind in our quest toward inclusive growth,” presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said in a press statement. According to the Pulse Asia Research’s June 2015 “Ulat ng Bayan” survey released yesterday, the President’s performance rating is now at 54 percent, up from 38 percent in March while his trust approval rating is at 50 percent, up from 36 percent.

Lacierda said the results reflected significant increases in the performance and trust approval ratings of Aquino. “From the beginning, the Aquino administration has sought to change the course of our country’s narrative — from opaqueness to transparency, from the crooked to the straight path,” Lacierda said. “Five years on, the results are manifested not just in our domestic landscape — in the form of better job opportunities, enhanced poverty alleviation programs, universal health coverage, increased educational investments and infrastructure projects, among others—but also in our international reputation — as a prime tourist, business, and investment destination, and as a model for good governance. All these are made possible by the people’s trust in the President.”

Lacierda said the people’s support would ensure the continuity of what the Aquino administration has done under the “Daang Matuwid” governance. “ With roughly one year left for this administration, it is the Filipino people’s support which continues to inspire us to serve them better, and it is their discernment in future elections that will ensure the continuity of what we have done as we continue to tread Daang Matuwid,” he said.-pna