Senate report vs Binays may complement Ombudsman graft probe–Morales

The Senate report that would recommend plunder charges against Vice President Jejomar Binay and son Makati Mayor Junjun Binay may complement the ongoing graft investigation against the two over the alleged overprice of Makati City Hall Parking Building, Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales said on Wednesday.

“I don’t know what are the contents. I cannot say na gagamitin nating evidence. It could be a complement to our case buildup,” Morales, a former associate justice, said in a chance interview after the turnover of $1.3 million in proceeds from former Maj. Gen. Carlos Garcia’s forfeiture of assets.

Morales also said the draft Senate report could even help the Ombudsman investigators go beyond its findings of probable cause for graft over the alleged building overprice.

“It could even go more than what we are finding in the case buildup, in which case we’d be happy to consider the report,” Morales said.

The Senate draft report was a result of the Senate blue ribbon subcommittee investigation into the allegations of former Makati City Vice Mayor Ernesto Mercado against the Binays.

The report, which is two signatures shy of the majority vote of the 17-member Senate blue ribbon committee, is soon to be finalized and is set to recommend plunder, graft and violation of procurement laws over the alleged overprice.

The Ombudsman was conducting preliminary investigation which stemmed from the Ombudsman special panel of investigators’ graft complaint against respondents over the alleged overpricing of the parking building which started construction in 2007 when Vice President Binay was still mayor.

Alleged irregularities

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 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 nonexistent.

The respondents except for the Vice President 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 he 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. Bondal, a convenor of antigraft group United Makati Against Corruption, lost to the younger Binay as Makati mayor in 2013.

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