VP’s Quezon frat brods question hearings

Lucena City—An official of a local group of professionals who belong to Alpha Phi Omega (APO) defended his fraternity brother Vice President Jejomar Binay from “political persecution” in the ongoing hearing at the Senate.

Lawyer Fidel Angelito Arias, former president of APO Club 1925 based here, described the Senate hearing as “not in aid of legislation but political demolition.”

A former congressman, pastor Benny Abante, joined the chorus of criticism against the hearings.

In a statement, Abante, who has formed a group called Bayan Mamamayan Abante Movement, said “the temptation is to use these inquiries to influence voters.”

“Clearly, a moratorium on such inquiries needs to be seriously considered given that the target and timing of these investigations make the motivations of such moves highly suspect,” he said in a statement.

Abante said that after passing 19 bills during its first regular session, the Senate should prioritize the passage of pressing measures like the freedom of information (FOI) bill and other measures like extending Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) coverage to all senior citizens.

“Our people would be better served if the Senate focused on its primary purpose: the passage of laws,” said Abante, an FOI advocate and known champion of senior citizens’ rights.

“They are legislators, not litigators,” he said.

Businessman Arias said it was obvious that the hearings had “no other purpose but to ruin and besmirch the reputation of the Vice President.”

APO Club 1925 is a local group of fraternity members in Quezon province who are successful businessmen and professionals.

Binay is a member of APO since 1960, during his college days in the University of the Philippines Diliman.

Arias challenged the political foes of Binay in the Senate to support their allegation of graft and corruption against the Binays with “concrete and irrefutable evidence.”

Arias argued that at the end of the day, the reliability of evidence presented in the hearing would be the one to decide on the sincerity of the Senate probe.

“I’m sure that Brod Jojo (Binay) would face all his accusers before the proper forum to set the record straight and expose all the lies being thrown against him,” Arias said.

He said the ongoing hearing was purely motivated by the desire to destroy the presidential bid of Binay who, surveys had shown, enjoyed a comfortable lead over his perceived opponents for the 2016 elections.