Binay chides Duterte over alleged P211M hidden wealth

THE camp of Vice President Jejomar Binay on Wednesday chided Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte for allegedly failing to declare P211 million bank deposits in his statement of assets and liabilities networth (SALN).

In a statement, Binay’s information officer Joey Salgado said the manifesto earlier signed by Duterte and his running mate Alan Peter Cayetano to open all their bank accounts seems to be for show only.
Salgado referred to the Philippine Daily Inquirer report which quoted vice president bet Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV that Duterte has P211 million hidden in an account at Bank of the Philippine Island branch on Julia Vargas Avenue in Pasig City jointly with his daughter Sara.

READ: Trillanes: Duterte didn’t declare P211M in SALN

At least eight cash deposits totaling P197 million were also credited to the mayor’s bank account in the BPI Julia Vargas branch for Duterte’s 69th birthday on March 28, 2014.

Salgado said Duterte’s allegedly hidden wealth refuted the waiver Duterte earlier signed urging his rivals that they also waive their right to bank secrecy.

READ: Duterte to rivals: Waive secrecy on bank accounts

“Ipinagmalaki ng kampo ni Mister Duterte na siya raw ay pumirma ng waiver para buksan ang kaniyang bank accounts. Kanina ay naibalita sa isang pahayagan na mayroon siyang P211 million sa bangko na hindi niya nadeklara sa kanyang SALN. Nang tanungin si Mr. Duterte kung pipirma sya ng waiver, ang sagot niya ay hindi,” Salgado said.

“Mukhang press release lang ang bank waiver na yon,” he added.

Duterte has denied hiding P211 million in a bank account, dismissing Trillanes’ accusations as mere fabrications and calling the senator a “money for hire.” Trillanes vowed to expose more of Duterte’s alleged hidden wealth.

READ: Trillanes: Duterte has more hidden wealth

Binay had urged Duterte and his other rival candidates for president to sign the same bank waiver he earlier penned in a show of goodwill to subject his bank accounts to public scrutiny by the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC).

He made the challenge as the AMLC already investigated Binay’s alleged joint accounts with his purported fronts to hide billions in deposits.

According to a Philippine Daily Inquirer report that quoted bank findings, the AMLC said Binay stashed away billions of funds in joint accounts with alleged dummies – kickbacks which he purportedly gained from the allegedly overpriced Makati car park building, Makati Science High School building, and cakes for senior citizens to finance his 2010 vice presidential bid.

The AMLC earlier said Binay had 242 joint accounts with his alleged dummies which kept P11 billion since 2008.

READ: AMLC: Binay got billions

The AMLC report, the Inquirer reported, said the subject accounts, especially those of Binay, and joint accounts of Gerardo Limlingan Jr., Sedillo Portollano and Eduviges Baloloy showed “multiple large transactions amounting to billions of pesos coinciding with the period of construction of the New Makati Parking Building 11 and Makati Science High School, and the Joint Venture agreement with Boy Scouts.”

“They used a complicated and sophisticated system of layering funds, including the opening of multiple bank accounts under the names of close and trusted associates and entities whose officers and directors are the very same persons, and high value and frequent transactions under the control and direction of the beneficial owner, VP Binay,” the AMLC in the Inquirer report said.

The Inquirer also quoted AMLC in saying that Binay’s seven bank accounts received checks drawn from the accounts of his alleged dummies Limlingan (Binay’s finance officer), Lily Crystal, Mitzi Sedillo and Bernadette Portollano (who are Limlingan’s employees) and Eduviges Baloloy (Binay’s longtime executive assistant and secretary) at the time of the construction of the Makati City parking building and Makati Science High School building from 2007 to 2014.

The AMLC report said Binay’s bank accounts had a total deposit of P293.147 million in the period 2008 to 2014.

The Inquirer was able to obtain a copy of the 62-page AMLC report, which was the result of the Ombudsman investigations on alleged irregularities in the construction of the purportedly overpriced Makati City Hall Building II and Makati Science High School when Binay was mayor.

Binay had said the ongoing hearings before the Manila Regional Trial Court regarding the civil forfeiture case against Binay revealed that the Vice President only had one bank account – and not 242 as earlier reported – which contained only P1.7 million and not billions of pesos.

Binay also assured the court that he would not touch the frozen bank accounts as a show of good will to prove that he was not embroiled in corruption.

READ: Binay dares rivals anew: Sign AMLC waiver, release health records 

While he had considered Duterte as his running mate, Binay now turned against the Davao city mayor and called him a “berdugo” (butcher) for his alleged links with the vigilante group Davao Death Squad, believed to be behind the summary killings of criminals in Davao city.

READ: Duterte confirms ‘ties’ with Davao Death Squad

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