LP spokesman: Binay’s guilt ‘obvious’ in delaying release of COA report

Ibarra “Barry” M. Gutierrez III. PHOTO from www.congress.gov.ph

An official of the administration party rapped Vice President Jejomar Binay for supposedly delaying the release of the audit report of the Commission on Audit (COA) on the alleged overpricing of the Makati City Hall Building 2 until after the upcoming May 9 presidential elections.

READ: What went before: Makati City Hall Building II probe

Liberal Party spokesperson Ibarra “Barry” Gutierrez III said that Binay’s act is a “clear indication of guilt.”

“VP Binay’s guilt seems pretty obvious. Catching a mere whiff of the possible transmittal of the COA report to the Ombudsman regarding the Makati parking building sent him into overdrive trying to stop the move,” Gutierrez said in a statement on Monday.

Gutierrez said that Binay is “hell-bent” on delaying the release of the COA report to supposedly hide the truth “about the millions he pocketed in kickbacks.”

He said that if the vice president’s conscience is clear, Binay should not fear the release of the said report.

“If his conscience is clean, he will not be fazed no matter how many reports COA would release,” the Akbayan party-list representative said.

On Sunday, the Office of the Ombudsman lashed out against the Binay camp for saying that it was pressuring the audit body to release an incomplete audit report to derail the presidential bid of the vice president.

READ: Binay camp hits Ombudsman for rushing release of city hall building audit

Calling the Binay camp’s claim as “a lie,” Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales turned the tables against the vice president and said that it was Binay who was asking a COA official to delay the release of the report until after May 9.

“According to a very reliable source, VP Binay pleaded with a COA official not to release the report until after the elections,” the Ombudsman said.

The Ombudsman said that they were still waiting for the audit report from COA. RAM