Binay camp hits ‘new evidence’ vs VP as ‘dubious’ in origin, relevance

Vice President Jejomar Binay. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / NINO JESUS ORBETA

MANILA, Philippines—The camp of Vice President Jejomar Binay on Monday dismissed the “new evidence” which will be brought up by Senator Antonio Trillanes IV on the resumption of the Senate blue ribbon subcommittee probe on January as “dubious” in origin, relevance, and authenticity.

In a statement, Joey Salgado, Binay’s spokesperson and media affairs head, said that they expect this “new evidence” against Binay as a “lie.”

“The senator alleges the existence of new evidence. We expect this purported evidence to be similar to the ones presented by Mr. Ernesto Mercado, which can only be described as documents of dubious origin, relevance and authenticity. The statements made by Mr. Mercado are no different. They have all been lies,” Salgado said.

He added that the claims made by Mercado during the Senate probe on the alleged anomalies committed during Binay’s term as Makati City mayor such as his alleged ownership of a 350-hectare property in Batangas with an air-conditioned piggery and a log cabin in Tagaytay turned out to be baseless.

Salgado said that the Senate subcommittee has only offered “guessworks” and “hula-hula” after conducting 11 hearings.

“Despite several hearings, none of them have presented concrete evidence that would be given credence in a court of law. Several of these allegations have been proven patently false,” he added.

On Sunday, Trillanes said over dzBB, that a new witness will be presented to testify on a new issue during the resumption of the Senate blue ribbon subcommittee probe.

“We will present new evidence, so the people can see a new angle of the corruption that Vice President Binay had committed,” he said in the dzBB interview.

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