The 350-hectare property allegedly owned by the Binay family. FILE PHOTO
BALAYAN, Batangas – Vice President Jejomar Binay visited his hometown in Batangas, but would not drop by the alleged “Hacienda Binay.”
In an interview as Binay is addressing the crowd at Barangay Nine, Balayan, his spokesperson Atty. Rico Quicho refuted allegations that Binay owned the estate.
READ: ‘Hacienda Binay’: A property in question
Quicho said even Agrarian Reform Secretary Virgilio Del Rosario said the documents do not show Binay as the owner of the estate.
“ Alam niyo po ito ay bintang. Malinaw po na sinagot na po natin ‘yan sa Senado. In fact, maski nga po ‘yong secretary ng Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) ang nagsabi na wala pong pagmamay-aring lupain dito sa Batangas si VP Binay,” Quicho said.
(That is nothing but an allegation. We have clearly addressed that in Senate. In fact, even the secretary of the Department of Agrarian Reform said that VP Binay does not own land in Batangas.)
“Mga kababayan, malinaw na malinaw po, ‘yong secretary na po ng DAR ang nagpapasinungaling doon sa mga bintang na wala naman hong basehan, na narinig po natin diyan sa moro-morong ginawa nilang pag-iimbestiga kuno sa Senado,” he added.
(My fellow Filipinos, it is clear, even the DAR secretary denied the baseless allegations made in that farce of an investigation in Senate.)
Binay is visiting the municipalities of Nasugbu, Balayan, Calaca, Lemery, Bauan, as well as Batangas City.
Binay’s father Diego Binay is a native of Bauan.
READ: Binay goes to Batangas, woos father’s home province
The Senate Blue Ribbon subcommittee investigated Binay’s alleged use of dummies to serve as his fronts in the ownership of the 350-hectare agricultural estate in Barangay (village) Maligaya, Rosario town, Batangas, which houses a piggery, a flower orchard and a cock farm.
The estate is owned by Agrifortuna Inc., whose shareholders are the alleged dummies of Binay: Gerardo S. Limlingan, Binay’s longtime aide, and Tomas B. Lopez, president of University of Makati, according to former Makati City Vice Mayor Ernesto Mercado.
Businessman Antonio Tiu is claiming to be the owner of the estate.
The Binay camp said the vice president does not own the entire estate. He said he used to own a nine-hectare piggery farm and orchid leasing in the farm but that he has divested his shares when he won as vice president in 2010. IDL