Sen. Nancy not keen on dad’s appearance in Senate body

Sen. Nancy Binay: Qualms. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines–Sen. Nancy Binay has qualms about her father, Vice President Jejomar Binay, appearing in the Senate even if it would be the mother blue ribbon committee that would issue the invitation for him to respond to allegations of corruption.

The Vice President earlier said he would consider an invitation to attend a hearing of the full committee, headed by Sen. Teofisto Guingona III, instead of the subcommittee that has been conducting the inquiry into the allegations. Guingona said upon hearing this that he would convene the full committee and invite the elder Binay.

The Vice President has snubbed invitations by the subcommittee to answer allegations of overprice in the construction of Makati City Hall Building II and illegally amassing wealth while he was mayor of Makati.

Senator Binay said she would first study the Guingona proposal.

“Based on the last hearing, it has become more of a circus, so I don’t know if it will be different if the mother committee would handle the hearing,” she told reporters.

She lamented that lies against her family were being bandied about.

Regarding the Tagaytay Highlands billing statements presented by former Makati Vice Mayor Ernesto Mercado to the subcommittee, she said there should be no issue if her family dined in the exclusive club. She is a member there, she said, and this is declared in her statement of assets, liabilities, and net worth.

But this does not necessarily mean her family owns a log cabin there, as Mercado, the main witness against Binay, earlier claimed.

The Vice President has denied owning the log cabin, but his camp said he was a member of the country club.

As for her family’s alleged ownership of a vast estate in Rosario, Batangas province, that has a rest house, maze garden, aviary of exotic birds, man-made lagoon, and swimming pool and which had been dubbed “Hacienda Binay,” the senator said those making the claim might have been confused.

“I don’t know why they repeatedly link us to that hacienda. We’re not the hacenderos,” she said.

“Just check which member of the Cabinet is a hacendero,” she added.”

On the side of truth

Senator Binay also said she was of two minds about the proposed debate between her father and Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, who initiated the corruption charges against Binay. The challenge came from her father’s camp.

She said she was not sure if the Vice President and Trillanes were on the same level, pointing out that her father’s office was on a higher plane.

But on the other hand, she said if the debate continued, Trillanes might finally listen to the explanations.

On Tuesday, Trillanes said he would impose no conditions on the Kapisanan ng Brodkaster ng Pilipinas, which would moderate the debate between him and the Vice President.

He will not be the cause of the debate’s delay or scrapping, he said. He said he would leave it up to the people to decide who they will believe.

“We are sure that we are standing on moral high ground. We’re on the side of truth,” he said.