UNA exec on freeze order: Binay’s wealth matches bank accounts

An executive of the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) said Vice President Jejomar Binay can prove that his declared wealth matches the contents of his bank accounts subject to a freeze order by the court.

In a radio interview Wednesday, Navotas Representative Tobias Tiangco said Binay’s camp is confident to prove that the vice president did not misdeclare his wealth in his Statement of Assets and Liabilities Networth (SALN).

“Kaya po namin patunayan na kung ano ang nilalaman no’ng kanyang mga bank account ay tutugma ro’n sa required na i-file na SALN ng lahat ng government official. At hindi lang po sa SALN tutugma. ‘Yan po ay tutugma ro’n sa kanyang mga binabayaran na buwis magmula no’ng po s’ya ay naging public official,” Tiangco, UNA interim President, said.

(We can prove that what’s in his bank accounts will match what is required of a government official to file in his SALN. And it won’t only match his SALN but also the taxes that he is paying ever since he has become a public official.)

The statement came after the Court of Appeals granted the request by the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) to freeze 242 bank, insurance and security accounts of Binay, his family, and alleged dummies, totaling P16 billion. Binay’s frozen assets totaled P600 million.

The freeze order was also based on the findings that Binay’s SALN’s showed incomes from 2007 to 2013 of the Binays to be “disproportionate to the values, frequency and complexity of their banking transactions.”

Tiangco also hit media reports that alleged that the vice president owned all the 242 bank accounts subject to the freeze order.

The CA order stemmed from the Ombudsman’s investigation on the Makati Parking Building, allegedly overpriced by P1.3 billion, and the Makati Science High School.

The court took note of the AMLC findings that Gerardo Limlingan, Eduviges Baloloy and other alleged dummies withdrew funds from their bank accounts after the Senate Blue Ribbon committee hearing on the alleged anomaly.

The records of the Securities and Exchange Commission also showed probable links of entities, their directors and officers to the vice president and his family, the court said.

The Ombudsman probe is a result of a plunder complaint filed by Renato Bondal and Nicholas Enciso VI against VP Binay, his son Makati Mayor Junjun Binay, and other city officials.

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

Tiangco said he smelled the hand of the administration’s Liberal Party to demolish the reputation of the vice president who is eyeing the presidency in 2016.

He said the Liberal Party got hold of the AMLC findings despite the law making the document confidential.