Lawyer Romulo Macalintal. INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—Vice President Jejomar Binay has every right to refuse the Senate’s invitation for him to appear at the inquiry into the alleged overpricing of the Makati City Hall Building 2, a well-known election lawyer said Saturday.
In a press statement, Romulo Macalintal said Binay “could not be forced” to testify before the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, which has invited him to air his side on allegations that he earned kickbacks from the construction of the P2.28-billion building during his time as mayor of Makati City.
Macalintal said the protection accorded a sitting president from Congress subpoeanas under the doctrine of separation of powers extends to the vice president.
“If Congress cannot subpoena the President, then the same should be applied to Vice President Jejomar Binay considering that the Office of the Vice President is regarded as a component of the Executive Department of the government,” Macalintal said.
Macalintal, who regularly issues his opinion on major issues and claimed to have never lawyered for Binay, noted how the inquiry seemed to have turned into a “political show” that has “prejudged” the vice president.
“Binay knows that it will be a political suicide to attend such investigation since it is now turning out to be a political show rather than an inquiry in aid of legislation. His detractors who are conducting the investigation had already said that there is ‘direct testimony’ pointing to his alleged guilt — a prejudgment that practically denies him a fair and impartial hearing in the Senate,” Macalintal said.
The latest accusations against Binay surfaced a few months after his camp bared an alleged plot to discredit the vice president, who has made clear his plan to run for President in 2016, posting a strong showing in early surveys.
Several witnesses said Binay and his son, Makati Mayor Jejomar Erwin “Junjun” Binay, and other city officials had conspired to pad the construction cost of the office-parking building to take kickbacks.
Notably, former Makati Vice Mayor Ernesto Mercado, a former political ally, said it was customary for the elder Binay to take for himself 13 percent of funding for city projects.
Binay on Thursday defended himself and issued a flat denial of the charges in a televised address, saying that the Commission on Audit had found no irregularities in disbursements for the construction of the 11-story office-parking building.
He also said testimonies so far made against him and his son were all hearsay and would not stand in court.
His camp said he will reply to the Senate invitation on or before September 25, the next scheduled hearing.
Citing Binay’s “legal and political rights,” Macalintal said Binay was sent a mere invitation to the inquiry and not a subpoena.
He added: “The pendency of a plunder case against him before the Ombudsman which involves the same transaction further justifies his non-appearance in the Senate.”
Macalintal added that testimonies so far made against Binay in the Senate hearing could not be used as evidence yet as proceedings in a Congressional inquiry were different in nature from that of a trial court’s.
“Testimonies of the said witnesses in the Senate will remain as mere allegations and not evidence, until and unless they have been subjected to a rigid cross examination, which is the only means of testing their credibility and biases,” said the lawyer.
Macalintal also reminded the Senate to stick to its mandate of holding inquiries strictly in aid of legislation.
“Any congressional investigation must strictly comply with the constitutional requirement that it is in ‘aid of legislation.’ If the inquiry is merely ‘in the guise of as aid in legislation,’ then any subpoena by such committee could be refused, as enunciated by then Concon Delegate, later Chief Justice Hilario Davide, Jr., in the 1986 Constitutional Commission deliberations,” said Macalintal.