Presidential candidate Vice President Jejomar Binay during the Presidential Debates 2016 held in Capitol University in Cagayan de Oro City. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO/LYN RILLON
The camp of Vice President Jejomar Binay on Thursday revealed those who allegedly plotted the scheme to bust the chances of its presidential bet in winning the upcoming elections in May.
In a statement, vice president’s lawyer Claro Certeza said that two alleged supporters of administration standard-bearer Manuel “Mar” Roxas II have refused to answer questions posed by the camp of Binay regarding the “secret meetings” aimed at derailing the latter’s 2016 presidential bid which allegedly transpired in the Nickel Asia Corporation (NAC) tower in Taguig City.
READ: Binay camp: Mar Roxas behind anti-Binay ‘Oplan Stop Nognog 2016′ plot
The two businessmen who refused to answer the Binay camp’s written interrogatories were SR Metals, Inc. owner Francis Enrico “Eric” Gutierrez and NAC owner Salvador “Buddy” Zamora. Certeza said that they refused to answer the Interrogatories which “sought to elicit their answers on their participation in the conspiracy to destroy the name and reputation of the Vice President.”
Aside from their failure to answer the Binay camp’s interrogatories, Certeza said that they also refused to confirm whether Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano, Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, Caloocan Rep. Edgar Erice have attended at least one of the “secret meetings” where the demolition job against Binay, which was allegedly called “Oplan Nognog,” was planned and discussed.
“The plan to derail Vice President Binay’s presidential candidacy allegedly include the numerous Senate Blue Ribbon Subcommittee hearings, the Ombudsman cases filed by Mr. Renato Bondal, and the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) strong-arming the Vice President and his supporters,” Certeza said.
Trillanes and Cayetano were the two senators who led the 25 Senate Blue Ribbon subcommittee hearings investigating the alleged anomalies in Makati City which supposedly happened under the watch of the vice president when he was the incumbent mayor. Both are now seeking to replace Binay for the vice presidency.
READ: After 25 hearings, Senate panel says it’s done probing Binay
Erice, meanwhile, is a Liberal Party ally and a staunch critic of Binay.
Certeza also said that Gutierrez and Zamora refused to confirm whether the following persons were present in the meetings: former Alaminos City mayor Hernani Braganza, Presidential Adviser on Political Affairs Ronald Llamas; Cayetano staffers Dexter Estacio, Mari Jogardi, Ariel Olivar and Erwin Antonio; lawyers Jaye dela Cruz and Sarah Lou Arriola, Cecilia Lero, Vince Dizon, Ching and Babes Suva, Raul Ang, Cora Dacong, Dan Kelly, and Giboy Salapantan.
Aside from failing to confirm who attended the supposed clandestine meetings, Gutierrez and Zamora also refused to answer questions posed by the Binay camp on whether they owned the helicopters which took the aerial footage presented in the Senate hearings, whether they have met any witness who testified against the vice president and whether they provided or are still providing financial assistance to any of the witnesses who appeared in the Senate Blue Ribbon subcommittee hearings.
Certeza said that the two businessmen should have filed their answers to their written interrogatories 15 days after the receipt of the interrogatories served last January 28.
“In choosing not to answer, they indirectly confirm that there is in fact a demolition job against VP Binay and his family,” he said.
The Binay camp first exposed the supposed existence of the “Oplan Stop Nognog 2016” in 2014.
READ: VP’s camp hits ‘Oplan Stop Nognog in 2016’
Binay remains to be the frontrunner in the presidential race, according to the results of the latest pre-election surveys. RAM
