Binay camp belittles probe: No credible, admissible evidence

Sen. Antonio Trillanes and Sen. Koko Pimentel watch a presentation during the blue ribbon committe hearing regarding the alleged P1.601 billion overpricing of the 11 storey new Makati Cityhall parking building and the alleged irregular transcations entered into by the HDMF/PAGIBIG Fund and the Boy Scout of the Philippines under the leadership of Vice President Jejomar Binay at the senate on Tuesday, January 26, 2016. INQUIRER PHOTO / GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE

THE CAMP of Vice President Jejomar Binay on Tuesday belittled the findings of the Senate blue ribbon subcommittee, saying that after 25 hearings it was unable to prove the corruption allegations against Binay.

Binay’s political spokesperson Rico Quicho said the final hearing Tuesday “highlighted the obvious’’ as “no credible and admissible evidence has been presented to support the outrageous allegations against the Vice President.’’

“The hearings were just a waste of time and resources of the Senate,’’ Quicho said in a statement he issued after the almost three-hour hearing.

The Senate subcommittee concluded its hearings Tuesday after more than a year of inquiry into allegations that Binay and his family had amassed illegal wealth through projects and programs under the city government and under him as Vice President.

The subcommittee submitted last year a partial report recommending plunder and graft cases against Binay in connection with construction of the Makati City Hall Building II.

No-show

Binay did not participate in the proceedings of the subcommittee and lashed out against senators for the way they treated witnesses from the city government and certain agencies under him.

In a statement, Quicho also claimed that key witnesses, particularly lawyer Renato Bondal and former Makati City Vice Mayor Ernesto Mercado, had “no personal knowledge whatsoever on the issue they testified on.’’

He belittled Bondal for basing his testimonies “from newspaper clippings from a biased newspaper,’’ in reference to the Inquirer.

In the case of Mercado, he said the former vice mayor just retold “lies’’ he had been saying since last year.

“The rest of the ‘testimonies’ are just political rhetoric from a vice presidential candidate lagging behind in the surveys,’’ Quicho said of Trillanes.

Inquirer reporter

Quicho also said Inquirer reporter Nancy Carvajal had no personal knowledge of the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) report containing alleged bank accounts of Binay and his alleged dummies and yet testified on it.

“Second, (Carvajal) is in no position to authenticate the document,’’ he said, reminding that AMLC reports were private and confidential and that Carvajal’s possession of a copy was “in clear violation of the law creating the AMLC.’’

“Moreover, it has been clearly established in court, based on a manifestation filed by AMLC, that the Vice President has only one bank account and not over 200 as Ms Carvajal irresponsibly claimed, with total deposits of P1.7 million, not billions as she again falsely stated,’’ Quicho said.

He said Carvajal and the Inquirer had shown bias in reporting on Binay, lamenting that “sensationalism and exaggeration have been employed once again to bring down the Vice President and raise the ratings of a presidential candidate.’’

Evidence against VP

Binay’s camp also belied Trillanes’ claim that the folders that the Vice President had presented in a television ad were actually evidence against Binay.

Joey Salgado, Binay’s media affairs head, said that the folders were submitted by the Makati City government to show cooperation in the Senate and that the contents showed that “all transactions and projects are transparent and in compliance with established rules and procedures.’’

He said senators had admitted they were not able to read all the documents, adding this was not a surprise considering that the senators had prejudged the matter even before the start of the hearings.

Salgado also said the photo of folders used in a TV ad of Binay were taken last year and showed these were in a store room “gathering dust.’’ Christine O. Avendaño