Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV. INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines–Can he afford it?
Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV wants the Senate and the public to look into whether Vice President Jejomar Binay declared his shares in the Manila Polo Club in his statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN).
Quoting a resource person in Thursday’s hearing on the allegedly overpriced Makati City Hall Building II, Trillanes said the Vice President became a member of the exclusive Manila Polo Club in 1995.
“It is supposed to be declared in his SALN for that year. But assuming that he did declare it, these shares are very expensive, and its membership is reserved for super-rich individuals,” he said in a text message. “So, how could he even afford it?”
Trillanes said the Senate blue ribbon subcommittee had sent out letters to concerned officials, including officers of the Manila Polo Club, to verify the information on Binay’s membership.
“Hopefully, by the next hearing, we would be able to validate the information,” he said.
Honorary member
Binay was just an honorary and not a proprietary member of the Manila Polo Club by virtue of his being the then mayor of Makati and thus had no shares in the elite club, said Joey Salgado, his spokesman and head of his media office.
“The Vice President was an honorary member of the club during his term as mayor of Makati. This is in keeping with the club’s bylaws,” Salgado said in a statement.
He cited Section VI of the club bylaws where “honorary membership shall be accorded to the incumbent President of the Philippines and the incumbent Mayor of the City of Makati.”
Salgado told the Inquirer that as per club rules, being an honorary member, Binay did not pay for shares of stock in the club.
As an honorary member, Binay could use the club facilities “but he has to pay like other members.” The latest listed share price of Manila Polo Club is P11,000,000.
Marketing letter
Salgado said the supposed Manila Polo Club shares of Binay surfaced last week when lawyer Renato Bondal, who has accused the Vice President of plunder, presented a letter to a Senate blue ribbon subcommittee addressed to the then Makati mayor in 1995. The letter from Urban Bank of the Philippines detailed the payment of shares in the club.
But Salgado said the letter “on its face … appears to be a marketing letter addressed to all members of the club, regardless of membership status.”
“If Senator Trillanes and Bondal can show proof that the Vice President held actual shares and received dividends from the Polo Club, they are free to have them,” Salgado said.
He noted that Bondal was the one who had told the Senate subcommittee that his claim that the birthday cakes the Makati City government gives to senior citizens cost P1,000 each was just a guess.
“And it was the good senator who encouraged Mr. Bondal to make such a statement before the subcommittee,” he said.
Content of letter
In last week’s hearing conducted by a Senate blue ribbon subcommittee, Bondal presented Urban Bank’s 1995 letter to then Mayor Binay stating the latter’s shares in the Manila Polo Club.
On the request of Trillanes, Bondal read the contents of the letter, dated Aug. 23, 1995.
“Dear Mayor Binay, we are pleased to inform you that we have increased the maximum loan value of your Manila Polo Club share from P2 million to P3 million,” Bondal said, quoting the letter.
“As mentioned in our previous letter to you, Urban Bank has approved in your favor a ready-check mortgage line against your Manila Polo Club share,” the letter continued.
The ready-check mortgage line is a credit facility that allows “check writing convenience from a special checking account for your business or personal needs,” the bank said.
In effect, it serves as “instant access to credit” for the acquisition of real estate property, capital for business, or refinancing of loans, or financing of investment, it added.
“This multipurpose loan facility is being offered to select clients like you at competitive rates,” the bank added.
Trillanes confirmed from Bondal that Binay could take out a loan out of his Manila Polo Club shares. Urban Bank has closed.
Note to aides
The letter had an accompanying document that carried Binay’s initials, JCB, as well as his common note to aides, “PSM (Please see me),” and Bondal was testifying in that context, Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano said.
“In the last hearing, Mr. Chair, I was asking for the Vice President’s SALN. We could compare if during that date he included the Manila Polo Club shares,” Cayetano said.
Originally posted: 8:09 pm | Monday, October 6th, 2014
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