Aquino, Escudero, Osmeña to sign report vs VP Binay

Senators Francis “Chiz” Escudero, Bam Aquino, and Serge Osmena III. FILE PHOTO

Three more senators  will  sign a draft report that is recommending the filing of plunder charges against Vice President Jejomar Binay in connection with the alleged overpricing of the Makati City Hall 2 parking building.

The three  are  Senators  Francis “Chiz” Escudero, Bam  Aquino, and Serge Osmena  III.

“Yes I will,” Escudero said in a text message Sunday night when asked if he would sign the draft report of the Senate blue ribbon subcommittee.

“Based on what was presented at the Senate and, once cases are filed, he will finally have the chance to answer ‘at the proper forum’ which is what he has been claiming and saying,” he said.

Escudero noted that Binay was invited and given the opportunity to attend the subcommittee hearings but refused.

READ: Why is Binay afraid of Senate probe?

“We respect his decision. As I said before, it’s his loss if he doesn’t want to be heard in the same forum that he was accused,” he said.

Escudero campaigned for Binay in the 2010 vice presidential race but the two had a falling out after the senator chose to run under the Liberal Party-led coalition during the 2013 senatorial race.

“I am signing the Blue Ribbon Report because the findings that the Makati City Hall II Parking Building was overpriced and that its surrounding bidding process was irregular were largely unrefuted and unanswered.  These findings warrant that the appropriate government agency further investigates the matter and file the corresponding charges, as it deems proper,” Sen. Aquino said in a statement.

Senator Serge Osmeña III, in a radio interview over the weekend, said  he would sign the draft report against Binay.

Apart from the Vice President, the draft report also recommends the filing of plunder charges against his son, Makati Mayor Junjun Binay and other personalities who allegedly conspired to jack up the cost of the parking building. The Binays have repeatedly denied the allegations.

Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimenel III, chair of the subcommittee, earlier said that four senators, including himself, have already signed the draft report. The three others were Senators Grace Poe, Alan Peter Cayetano and Antonio Trillanes IV.

READ: Poe signs report vs Binay

Pimentel said the draft report needed to get the support of nine of the 17-member Senate blue ribbon committee being headed by Senator Teofisto Guingona III before it could become  official.

Originally posted at 11:31 am | Monday, June 1, 2015