Morales clarifies: No graft indictment yet vs Binays

OMBUDSMAN Conchita Carpio Morales on Monday clarified that as far as the antigraft office is concerned, it has yet to indict Vice President Jejomar Binay and son Makati Mayor Junjun Binay for graft over the allegedly overpriced Makati parking building.

In an interview at the sidelines of the launching of the government’s flagship anticorruption program Integrity Management Program, the former Associate Justice in the Supreme Court said certain reports made to appear as “gospel truth” that the Ombudsman wanted to charge the Binays already.

She clarified that it is the Ombudsman special panel of investigators as complainants who found probable cause to indict Binay. The panel is a body of probers within the Ombudsman central.

“There was no such thing as the Ombudsman finding probable cause. But I understand there was this reply filed by the Special Panel of Investigators or preliminary investigators saying that they found probable cause to hail Binay into court,” Morales said.

“Yun lang yun. (But) it’s going to be this panel who will recommend and it’s going to be the Ombudsman who will approve or disapprove ‘yung recommendation nila,” she added.

Asked for the status of Binay’s graft case, Morales said as far as the Ombudsman central is concerned, the indictment for graft remains pending. Indictment paves the way for filing of charges before the Sandiganbayan.

The Philippine Daily Inquirer reported that the Ombudsman panel of probers found probable cause to indict the two Binays for graft, citing the panel’s consolidated reply to the counter affidavits of the respondents.

The Ombudsman Special Panel of Investigators filed the graft complaint against respondents over the alleged overpricing of the parking building which started construction in 2007 when Vice President Binay was still mayor.

The preliminary investigation results will still go through the Ombudsman Central which would then give the go signal for the filing of charges before the Sandiganbayan.

According to the Ombudsman probers, the preliminary investigation will look into the alleged irregularities in the procurement and award for the design and architectural services as well as the construction of the parking building built along F. Zobel street.

The complaint said the respondents awarded the P11.9 million contract for the design and architectural services to MANA Architecture and Interior Design Company without public bidding.

It also said that payment for the contract was released to MANA even without the deliverables made.

The first two phases of the construction of the building also proceeded without a detailed engineering plan, contrary to procurement rules, the complaint said.

Hilmarc Construction, the contractor allegedly behind the overpriced construction, was purportedly awarded with the contract despite irregularities and use of falsified documents, the complaint said.

The complaint also said there were two losing bidders in the contract. But as it turns out, one of the bidders deny participation while the other is non-existent.

Also included in the complaint are former City Administrator Marjorie de Veyra, City Legal Officer Pio Kenneth Dasal, City Budget Officer Lorenza Amores, former Central Planning Management Office (CPMO) Chief Virginia Hernandez, former City Engineer Mario Badillo, former City Accountant Leonila Querijero, former Acting City Accountant Raydes Pestaño, City Accountant Cecilio Lim III, Acting City Accountant Eleno Mendoza, City Treasurer Nelia Barlis, CPMO Engineers Arnel Cadangan, Emerito Magat and Connie Consulta, CPMO Chief Line Dela Peña, Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) Secretariat Heads Giovanni Condes and Manolito Uyaco, Technical Working Group (TWG) Chairman Rodel Nayve, BAC member Ulysses Orienza, General Services Department (GSD) OIC Gerardo San Gabriel, GSD staff member Norman Flores, as well as private respondents Orlando Mateo of MANA and Efren Canlas of Hilmarc’s Construction Corporation (Hilmarc).

Besides the criminal charges, the respondents except for VP Binay also face administrative raps for grave misconduct, serious dishonesty and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service, with the possibility of being suspended from government pending administrative adjudication.

The Ombudsman has suspended Mayor Binay for the administrative charges, but this was deferred after Binay secured a temporary restraining order from the appellate court.

The Ombudsman probe stemmed from a plunder complaint filed by Renato Bondal and Nicholas Enciso VI against the two Binays.

According to the plunder complaint, the construction of the building worth P1.56 billion was overpriced, citing National Statistics Office construction data which amount the average cost of the building that year at P245.6 million only. AC