Binay cries foul over Inquirer report on alleged dummy bank accounts
SANTA, Ilocos Sur—Vice President Jejomar Binay on Tuesday cried foul at the Philippine Daily Inquirer for its report citing the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) alleging that Binay kept billions of pesos in dummy bank accounts.
During his campaign sortie at the municipal gym of Santa, Ilocos Sur, Binay said the allegations in the Inquirer report could not serve as evidence to pin him down for corruption.
Binay also cited the year-long Senate blue ribbon subcommittee hearings which investigated allegations of rigged projects and overpriced contracts when he was Makati City mayor for almost 20 years.
He said the Senate blue ribbon waged a demolition by perception against him even though its job was to investigate in aid of legislation.
“Sa Inquirer, ako na naman ang headline, grabe … For one year and a half, inimbestigahan kami ng Senate, whose job is in aid of legislation,” Binay said.
READ: AMLC: Binay got billions
Article continues after this advertisementHe said the corruption allegations could not serve as evidence until the court convicted him of the charges.
Article continues after this advertisement“Bintang, bintang, bintang. Allegations are not evidence. Corruption is a criminal liability. The only time that you can be touted as corrupt is when you are convicted by the courts. It’s not when ikaw ay pinagbintangan,” Binay said.
Binay lamented that an official accused of corruption was already deemed guilty in the public’s perception.
“Pag ikaw ay nakitang maganda ang hikaw, naku, nagnakaw yan! Guilty! That’s the problem. When somebody in government is charged, especially high government officials, the charge is already an offense. Wala namang ganun,” Binay said.
Binay’s spokesperson Rico Quicho earlier refuted reports about the AMLC and said Binay’s frozen accounts contained only P1.7 million and not billions “wrongly and maliciously reported” in the media.
READ: Binay camp belies Inquirer report on VP’s ‘billions’
“As a sign of good faith, the Vice President voluntarily manifested before the court that he will not touch the said account for the duration of the case, which I am confident will eventually be dismissed,” Quicho said.
The AMLC in the Inquirer report said Binay used the funds stashed away in joint accounts with alleged dummies—which he purportedly earned from the allegedly overpriced Makati car park building, Makati Science High School building, and cakes for senior citizens—to finance his 2010 vice presidential bid.
The AMLC earlier said Binay had 242 joint accounts with his alleged dummies which kept P11 billion since 2008.
The AMLC report, the Inquirer reported, said the subject accounts, especially those of Binay, and joint accounts of Gerado Limlingan Jr., Sedillo Portollano and Eduviges Baloloy showed “multiple large transactions amounting to billions of pesos coinciding with the period of construction of the New Makati Parking Building II and Makati Science High School, and the joint venture agreement with Boy Scouts.”
“They used a complicated and sophisticated system of layering funds, including the opening of multiple bank accounts under the names of close and trusted associates and entities whose officers and directors are the very same persons, and high value and frequent transactions under the control and direction of the beneficial owner, VP Binay,” the AMLC in the Inquirer report said.
The Inquirer was able to obtain a copy of the 62-page AMLC report, which was the result of the Ombudsman investigations on alleged irregularities in the construction of the purportedly overpriced Makati City Hall Building II and Makati Science High School when Binay was mayor. RC
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