Binay camp denies retirement pay for missing VP aide

The camp of suspended Makati Mayor Jejomar Erwin “Jun Jun” Binay yesterday denied a report that Vice President Jejomar Binay’s longtime secretary Eduviges “Ebeng” Baloloy received her retirement check from the city hall two days before the mayor stepped down from office last week.

Joey Salgado, spokesman for the mayor, said Baloloy only filed her application for early retirement.

Baloloy’s retirement was approved by Mayor Binay last Monday, Salgado said.

“Contrary to the report, Baloloy has not received her retirement pay. There is a process before employees of the city hall can get their retirement benefits. They should first secure clearances from different departments. The process alone would take several weeks,” Salgado said in a text message.

He said there was nothing wrong if Baloloy continued to receive her salary from the Makati government despite her disappearance six months ago.

Salgado explained that Baloloy had earned a substantial number of leave credits.

Salgado, however, could not say if Baloloy was on official leave prior to her filing of an application for early retirement.

According to the report, Baloloy retired sometime during her disappearance and received from the city government a check covering her retirement benefits on Monday.

Baloloy and another aide of the Vice President, Gerardo “Gerry” Limlingan, disappeared last year after the Senate started its inquiry into allegations of corruption against the Binays.

Baloloy served as the Vice President’s personal secretary since 1986.

Former vice mayor Ernesto Mercado tagged Baloloy as one of the people he allegedly handed millions of pesos in kickbacks for Binay when he was still Makati mayor.

Meanwhile, the camp of Mayor Binay tagged acting mayor Romulo “Kid” Peña as a mere “figurehead,” with business at the Makati City Hall being handled by Mercado and former general services head Mario Hechanova.

Mercado has been offering appointments to city hall offices following the designation of Peña as acting mayor, according to Salgado.

He said Hechanova is allegedly “lording over” the city hall’s general services department.