In the United States, testimonies of whistle-blowers against the Mafia are given credence by the courts and Congress because they were once members of the criminal syndicate.
The whistle-blowers against Vice President Jojo Binay and his family are naturally telling the truth because they were once in the loop of the alleged reign of kleptocracy.
So, VP Binay’s statement denying that his family owns the 350-hectare hacienda in Rosario, Batangas province, is weak.
Who would not believe the testimonies of former Makati Vice Mayor Ernesto Mercado, former Makati General Services Director Mario Hechanova and Ernesto Aspillaga, Hechanova’s predecessor at the Makati City Hall?
Mercado was very close to Jojo Binay until the latter broke his promise to have the former vice mayor run for Makati mayor. Binay instead anointed his son, Junjun, the current mayor.
Mercado was so close to then Mayor Jojo Binay that he collected “dirty” money for his boss and admitted keeping some for himself.
Hechanova said he rigged biddings for city government projects so Binay’s friends could bag the contracts.
Aspillaga said he participated in farcical biddings.
Mercado, Hechanova and Aspillaga put their lives on the line by testifying against the Binays, the most powerful family in the country today.
Why would these men tell lies against their former boss when they know they would be placing themselves in harm’s way?
Already, one of their former colleagues, who also took part in plundering the coffers of the Makati City government, was killed in the Bicol Region under suspicious circumstances.
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A daughter of mine, who was then in high school, was beaten up years ago in a Makati City condominium by a brawny, unidentified man while she was about to open the door to the unit where she and her mother live.
This was at the time I was reporting in this column the plunder case filed against then Mayor Elenita Binay, Jojo’s wife, in the Office of the Ombudsman.
I am not pointing an accusing finger at any particular person, but was it a coincidence that the man, while pummeling my daughter, said: “This is for your father”?
I hope nothing of the sort happens again to my daughter or any member of my family.
I think I have an idea who the mastermind was—but I won’t tell.
I hope he doesn’t do it again; he has more to lose.
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During the time of coup jitters in the first Aquino administration, a Cory government official said ranking military officers who took part in the destabilization plot put their families in danger as they faced retaliation from the loyalists.
The military officers shot back, saying the Cory official who made the threat had a family too and the members were known to them. That Cory administration official is still very much around.
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The US Embassy warned Americans in the country of a possible plot by terrorists to bomb public places in Metro Manila.
The warning, posted on the embassy’s website, came following news reports that the police had arrested three men linked to an alleged plot to bomb some places in the metropolis.
Welcome to the Philippines, a place for brave, daring and adventurous tourists and expatriates.