Binay camp calls Senate report against him ‘farce’

The camp of Vice President Jejomar Binay called the Senate partial report recommending the filing of plunder and graft charges against the opposition candidate as a farce.

In a statement on Tuesday, Binay’s spokesperson Joey Salgado said the Senate partial report which was fielded to the plenary on Monday was “in aid of demolition, not legislation.”

Salgado said Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III submitted to the plenary the partial report at a time Binay is leading the latest voters’ preference polls.

“After more than a year and 25 public hearings, the Senate Blue Ribbon Subcommittee reported to the plenary its Partial Report. Again, a Partial Report that it already released to media last year. Panis na ang report na ito. Pero isinalang ni Senator Pimentel sa plenaryo dahil survey period ngayon,” Salgado said.

“It’s part of a chorus of attacks on the Vice President led by the Liberal Party candidate himself and his spokespersons at the Palace, namely Misters (Edwin) Lacierda and (Manolo) Quezon,” he added.

Salgado said the vice president had always urged his detractors to file cases in court instead of using the Senate as a venue to vilify him.

But Binay is confident the Senate partial report would only be thrown out by the court as hearsay evidence, Salgado said.

“In a court of law, the Subcommittee’s Partial Report will be thrown out in its entirety, for relying on perjuries and hearsay from tainted witnesses,” Salgado said.

READ: Highlights of partial blue ribbon subcommittee report

Salgado said the Senate partial report did not mention the unreliability of the computations in calculating the alleged overprice in the Makati carpark building.

Salgado added that even Public Works Secretary Rogelio Singson testified before the Senate that the price of a building cannot be determined by calculating the price of the floor area per square meter.

The report said the building costs P69,549.52/square meter when it should have cost only P35,260/square meter.

“The volume of materials as indicated in the actual bill of quantities must be estimated. Secretary Singson’s testimony was not even mentioned in the Partial Report,” Salgado said.

“It just goes to show how farcical the whole proceeding has been,” he added.

The partial report said the P2.28 billion Makati City Hall Building II was overpriced by P1.3 billion.

The report said the alleged massive accumulation of ill-gotten wealth could only be plunder.

The report also mentioned Binay’s alleged ownership of the 350-hectare estate “Hacienda Binay.

The Senate investigation also uncovered a “2,300 percent” increase in Binay’s income since 1988 – from P2 million to P60.25 million in 2014. Binay’s critic Renato Bondal said Binay has no job that offered such an exponential increase.

The Senate probe also noted the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) report which bared 242 bank accounts under Binay, his family and purported dummies allegedly containing P11 billion.

READ: Senate ends inquiry but Binay seems unscathed

Binay faces graft indictment before the Ombudsman over the alleged rigging of the procurement for the design and construction of the P2.28-billion Makati City Hall Building II, deemed the country’s priciest car park building, when he was Makati mayor.

The Ombudsman has approved the filing of four counts of violation of Section 3 (e) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act or Republic Act No. 3019, six counts of Falsification of Public Documents and one count of Malversation for his involvement in phases 1 and 2 of the carpark project.

Because Binay has immunity as an impeachable officer, the Ombudsman is set to file the charges after his term ends.

Binay also faces four other plunder and graft complaints before the Ombudsman over the alleged anomalies involving the Makati Science High School Building, University of Makati, a Fort Bonifacio property, and over an allegedly anomalous land deal between Alphaland and the Boy Scouts of the Philippines, where Binay is its long-running president.

READ: Ombudsman finds probable cause to charge VP Binay with graft 

Binay has denied the allegations and blamed his detractors for trying to derail his presidential bid.

READ: Binay appeals graft indictment, says it’s meant to ruin 2016 run