UNA says AMLC report false, outdated

BINAY camp hits smear campaign.   INQUIRER FILE PHOTO/LYN RILLON

THE UNITED Nationalist Alliance (UNA) on Tuesday dismissed as “outdated” a report by the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) published by the Inquirer that said Vice President Jejomar Binay received billions of pesos in kickbacks from infrastructure projects in Makati City to fund his campaign in 2010.

Navotas Rep. Toby Tiangco, the UNA president, said the Inquirer front-page report Tuesday was part of a “well-planned black propaganda” campaign to derail Binay’s campaign for the presidency in the elections.

“We can deduce that the said document appears to be the basis” for the AMLC’s petition for an asset protection order it filed in a Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC) last November 2015 “or almost four months ago” against UNA’s standard-bearer, Tiangco said.

In a statement, Tiangco said the AMLC report was “false” and that the council had since corrected itself on its initial allegations before the court.

The corrections included its claim that Binay had 242 bank accounts when it admitted that only one bank account was under the name of Binay, with a balance of P1.7 million “and not billions as the agency earlier claimed,” he said.

Tiangco said that only two weeks ago, the AMLC asked the Manila RTC to drop JC Binay Foundation and Agrifortuna Inc., from the case—after it had claimed that these two entities established links of Binay to his aide, Gerry Limlingan.

“The AMLC’s recent motion constitutes an admission that it cannot prove its assertion and is mere conjecture. In short, the AMLC flip-flopped not only once, but twice,” Tiangco said.

Inconsistencies

He cited other “inconsistencies” in the AMLC report:

In its ex parte petition for the issuance of a freeze order with the Court of Appeals in May 2015, the AMLC said Binay’s deposit transactions with several banks totaling at least P263 million and withdrawals of at least P266 million “originated from illicit and/or undeclared activities”’ because his declared salaries per the statement of assets, liabilities and net worth as of Dec. 31, 2009, as Makati mayor and Dec. 31, 2010, as Vice President were P937,773 and P541,930, respectively.

Likewise, the AMLC said Binay did not declare any business interest and also alleged the wide gap between his legitimate income and his total bank accounts from 2009-2014.

“In its petition filed in the Manila RTC, the AMLC now admits that the previously ‘unjustified deposits and withdrawals’ actually pertain to campaign contributions and expenses,” Tiangco said, noting that Binay’s camp had stated these amounts had been duly declared and reported in his statement of campaign contributions and expenses.

“The AMLC’s flip-flopping as well as the actuation of certain AMLC officials show that [they] have been less truthful. The officers of AMLC have deliberately used their office as a tool for political oppression,” he said.

Tiangco said this was why AMLC officials were included in the P200-million damage suit filed by Binay last year.

He pointed out that the AMLC continued to refuse to divulge its report in the damage suit against it as well as its forfeiture case.

Select media

“It seems that the copy of their report is exclusively for select media and Liberal Party officials. So much for fairness and due process,” Tiangco said.

He said the alliance would ask the National Bureau of Investigation to “unmask the personalities behind the spread of the supposed AMLC report.”

“The Vice President sees the release of this outdated report as part of a well-orchestrated plot to destroy his reputation and stop his mission to serve the country as President,” he said.

Tiangco said Binay was prepared to face his accusers in court but would “not let those resorting to criminal acts to malign him continue to do so with impunity.”

The UNA president said the release of the AMLC report to the media was a “well-funded and well-planned black propaganda” against Binay, describing this to be “unprecedented in scale and viciousness.”

Trial by publicity

“Those seeking to put down the Vice President through trial by publicity should not be allowed to commit crimes and violate the law like they did in this latest episode involving the release and publication of a false AMLC report,” he said.

“With the debate coming up, the PDI story is obviously part of this orchestrated effort to take the focus away from the basic issues of poverty and the need for a competent and compassionate government, which the Vice President provides the country,” he said.

Tiangco was referring to the second presidential debate organized by the Commission on Elections that will be held in Cebu on March 20.