Binay camp hits Trillanes move to revive graft probe

THE CAMP of Vice President Jejomar Binay on Wednesday scoffed at the call of Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV for the Senate blue ribbon committee to resume its investigation of the corruption allegations against the  presidential standard bearer of the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA).

Binay’s spokesperson Joey Salgado said Trillanes, who is running for vice president in the May elections, wanted to resume the graft probe to resuscitate his “catatonic” campaign.

“Senator Trillanes, the cellar-dweller in the vice presidential race, wants to resume the so-called probe on the Vice President. He professes that it is not politically motivated, a fantastic claim that no one believes, probably not even Senator Trillanes,” Salgado said in a statement Wednesday.

Salgado noted how Trillanes, among three vice presidential bets who are members of the Nacionalista Party, has been trailing in the poll surveys.

“Clearly, the senator merely wants to squeeze from the hearing whatever publicity it can provide him and his catatonic campaign,” he said.

“In a way we pity Senator Trillanes. Despite hogging the headlines and airwaves for more than a year, the voting public still does not believe him fit to become vice president. But that probably speaks more of the intellect of the voters,” said Salgado.

Trillanes this week sought the resumption of the investigation of the corruption allegations against Binay which he initiated in August 2014, saying a supposed hearing in November was sidetracked by urgent budget deliberations.

The senator said there were matters that “may not have been brought out before, but we need to put it on record, and the only time it will be placed on record is if we conduct a hearing.”

The Senate began its investigation in 2014 after whistle-blowers surfaced and accused Binay of receiving millions of pesos in kickbacks from City Hall projects during his term as Makati Mayor.

Trillanes, however, denied that his call for the resumption of the investigation had anything to do with Binay’s recent rise in surveys on voters’ preferred candidates.