Binay wife asks Sandiganbayan for travel permit

Former Makati City Mayor Elenita Binay FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—The wife of Vice President Jejomar Binay has asked the Sandiganbayan for its permission for her to travel to Hawaii.

Mrs. Elenita Binay filed a motion to travel with the anti-graft court third division, according to executive clerk of court Atty. Dennis Pulma on Wednesday.

The division is set to hear Mrs. Binay’s motion on Thursday, Pulma said.

Mrs. Binay faces charges of graft and malversation for the purchase of allegedly overpriced beds of the Ospital ng Makati when she was mayor from 1998 to 2001.

The case was dismissed in 2011 for lack of evidence but it was later revived by the Office of the Ombudsman.

Lawyers of Binay threatened to sue the Ombudsman’s Special Prosecutor Office over the revival of the case despite lack of new evidence.

The Sandiganbayan on May 20 issued a hold departure order against Mrs. Binay over the newly revived case against her.

The anti-graft court’s fourth and fifth divisions both allowed Mrs. Binay to travel to Hawaii from June 6 to June 27.

The court said Mrs. Binay need not post a P90,000 travel bond because she has not yet withdrawn the bond for a previous trip.

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