LP denies hand in anti-Binay pol ads
Liberal Party chairman for political affairs and Caloocan Rep. Edgar Erice. Screengrab from INQUIRER.net video
An officer for the Liberal Party (LP) denied having a hand in the paid advertisements reviving the corruption allegations against Vice President Jejomar Binay.
In a press conference Tuesday, Caloocan Rep. Edgar Erice, the LP political affairs chairperson, said the ruling party would rather spend campaign funds to advertisements promoting its standard-bearer Mar Roxas and Leni Robredo.
“Definitely not. Kung gagastos kami, para kay Secretary Mar at Vice President Leni, hindi para kay Binay (We would rather spend campaign funds for Secretary Mar and Vice President Leni),” Erice said.
“Hindi naman incognito ang kontrata between GMA and the person who contracted the ads. So palagay ko, dun madali naman imbestigahan at madali mapatunayan kung sino talaga, kaninong grupo konektado yung palabas na yan,” Erice added.
(The contract between GMA and the person who contracted the ads is not incognito. So I think, it will be easy to investigate the matter and it will also be easy to prove whoever is behind this and with which group the advertisement is connected.)
Erice admitted that the negative advertisements would serve to benefit Binay’s opponents.
He urged Binay to address the corruption allegations against him which were raised in the Senate Blue Ribbon subcommittee investigation.
“Matagal nang sinasabi ng buong bansa na kailangan niyang ipaliwanag. Pero hindi niya pinapaliwanag, dinadaan niya sa paliwanag na pulitika lahat,” Erice said.
(The whole country has been telling him to explain his side. However, he hasn’t explained and always says that the matter is just politically motivated.)
READ: Binay camp cries foul over ‘negative’ TV ads
The 15-second advertisements, which went on air on major television networks since Friday, showed ordinary folks urging the vice president to address corruption allegations against him, such as the overpriced Makati parking building, the 350-hectare estate “Hacienda Binay,” and the 242 bank accounts under Binay, his family and purported dummies which allegedly contained P11 billion.
Likewise, there are similar advertisements pertaining to questions over the citizenship of Senator Grace Poe, who once applied for American citizenship and reacquired her Filipino citizenship when she was given a position in the government.
According to an Inquirer report, Binay’s spokesperson Rico Quicho pointed to the LP for trying to revive the corruption allegations against Binay.
Quicho said the efforts to smear the reputation of the United Nationalist Alliance standard-bearer “started in the Senate and continued up to this day through a deceptive advertisement.”
“The elitist campaign to discredit the Vice President is nothing but lies and innuendos… This is a manifestation of the vain attempt to compensate the gross inefficiency and lack of empathy of the LP’s presidential candidate through inappropriate mudslinging against another candidate,” Quicho said.
“The participation of (LP) in the conspiracy to destroy the Vice President’s reputation is clear and obvious,” he added.
Binay faces graft indictment before the Ombudsman over the alleged rigging of the procurement for the design and construction of the P2.28-billion Makati City Hall Building II, deemed the country’s priciest car park building, when he was Makati mayor.
The Ombudsman has approved the filing of four counts of violation of Section 3 (e) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act or Republic Act No. 3019, six counts of Falsification of Public Documents and one count of Malversation for his involvement in phases 1 and 2 of the carpark project.
Because Binay has immunity as an impeachable officer, the Ombudsman is set to file the charges after his term expires.
The vice president also faces four other plunder and graft complaints before the Ombudsman over the alleged anomalies involving the Makati Science High School Building, University of Makati, a Fort Bonifacio property, and over an allegedly anomalous land deal between Alphaland and the Boy Scouts of the Philippines, where Binay is long-running president.
READ: Ombudsman finds probable cause to charge VP Binay with graft
Binay has denied the allegations and blamed his detractors for trying to derail his presidential bid. RAM
READ: Binay appeals graft indictment, says it’s meant to ruin 2016 run
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