The longtime financial adviser of Vice President Jejomar Binay on Thursday cleared his and his brother’s name on their alleged roles as bagmen or aides of the vice president.
In a two-page statement released by the Yorac Law Firm which represents the brothers, Atty. Grace Reyes denied the involvement of Gerardo “Gerry” and his brother Victor Limlingan on the reported illicit transactions under Binay’s bank accounts.
“They are not ‘aides’ or ‘henchmen’ of the Vice President. Gerardo and Victor Limlingan are both entrepreneurs and industry experts, each with a long list of accomplishments and with vast experience in their respective fields,” Reyes said.
Reyes went on by citing the scholastic and professional history of the Limlingan brothers.
“Before his life was rocked by this controversy, Mr. (Gerardo) Limlingan, given his direct exposure to the financial markets, was focused on developing his personal portfolio and other business ventures,” she said.
Gerry Limlingan, together with 13 other resource persons, was cited in contempt and ordered arrested by the Senate blue ribbon committee on Monday for failing to attend the hearings on corruption allegations against the vice president.
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“With the recent public leak of the Court of Appeal’s freeze order, we now hear, and read of Mr. Limlingan’s brother and other members of Mr. Gerardo Limlingan’s family brought into the controversy simple because they are Limlingans,” Reyes added.
Reyes, however, acknowledged the Limlingans’ association with the Binay family.
“They both know the vice president. Gerry Limlingan’s association with the vice president dates back to the 1970s. Victor Limlingan has known the vice president as Attorney Binay since he married in 1975 into the Araullo Family, family friends of Attorney Binay,” she said.
A report by the Anti-Money Laundering Council showed that Binay had joint accounts with Gerry, which it said were also used as “conduits” for remittances abroad.
In a previous interview, former Makati Vice Mayor Ernesto Mercado also claimed that the Limlingans accounted for 110 of the 242 frozen accounts of the vice president. Victor is a co-depositor in two of the said accounts.
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Gerry Limlingan is the president of JC Binay Foundation, Inc., a board member of the University of Makati, a managing director of Omni Security Investigation, which covered the security and janitorial contracts in Makati City Hall, and a stockholder of Agri-Fortuna Inc., which owned the alleged “Hacienda Binay.” His brother Victor, meanwhile, serves as managing director of DMCI Holdings Inc. and its subsidiaries. He was also a former member of the board Philippine Daily Inquirer according to the statement.
Gerry had not been seen in public since the probe on the alleged overpriced Makati City Hall Building II started 10 months ago. The Senate’s Office of the Sergeant-At-Arms failed to locate Limlingan at his registered residence. IDL
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