Binay says family is ready to fight charges

Vice President Jejomar Binay. FILE PHOTO

Amid the controversies hounding him and his family, Vice President Jejomar Binay said they were ready to fight the charges being hurled at them.

“Kami, palaban kami diyan (We are ready to fight),” Binay said on Wednesday in reaction to the freeze order that the Court of Appeals had reportedly issued on his bank accounts based on the report of the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC).

“The accusations against us started when I was still mayor. This is not new,” he said.

“What is unfortunate here is that the basis of the Court of Appeals is very, very wrong because the evidence presented by the AMLC is incomplete.”

But Binay said he could not comment on the AMLC report since he still did not have a copy of it despite his repeated requests.

The Vice President reiterated he only had five bank accounts and not 242 as reported in the media.

“It seems that I’m richer than Bill Gates if they claim I have 242 bank accounts. No one owns 200 banks in the Philippines. But to be honest, they froze only five,” he said.

Binay said the money in those bank accounts was from his earnings as a lawyer and teacher, and wife Elenita Binay’s as a medical practitioner.

“Meron naman kaming negosyo kahit na papaano (We run our own business),” he said. “So ‘yun ay legal na pera (So that money is legal).”

Binay said that just because his bank accounts were ordered frozen, it did not automatically mean he had done something unlawful.

“Ituturo pa ho nila ang pinanggalingan ‘nun. ‘Yun ay, sabi ko sa inyo, ‘yung perang inipit nila sa amin, pera hong legal ‘yun. Malinis na pera ‘yun (They would point to where the money supposedly came from. I’m telling you, that money they are accusing us with, that is legal. That money is clean),” he said.

“I’m just sad that they are also accusing my friends and even the accounts of their spouse, children and mothers have been frozen.” RC