Vice President Jejomar Binay. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
Vice President Jejomar Binay on Thursday said it is the turn of Davao city mayor Rodrigo Duterte to have a taste of his own medicine now that the latter stands accused of having hidden wealth four days before the May 9 polls.
In an interview in Isabela where he took his campaign, Binay was asked for his reaction on Duterte’s P2.4-billion transactions in his alleged accounts in three banks, including his account at the Bank of the Philippine Islands on Julia Vargas branch, which Duterte allegedly used to stash P227 million in deposits, which he failed to declare in his statement of assets and liabilities.
READ: Duterte: I have less than P200M in bank
Binay said it’s Duterte’s turn to taste his own medicine. Duterte had accused Binay of corruption in his stump campaign speeches.
“Siguro yung bintang ng bintang ng kuwan, siya pala guilty nun. Yung ginawa nila sa akin, ngayon sila ang pinagbibintangan,” Binay said.
(As it turns out, the one who keeps on accusing me is the guilty one. What they did to me, now they are the ones being accused.)
READ: Duterte on Binay dare: I can handle a plunderer
At the time he was leading in the voters’ opinion polls, Binay had also been a subject of mudslinging after he was investigated by the Senate over allegations of millions of kickbacks from overpriced deals in Makati when he was mayor.
Binay’s survey ratings had been declining since the Ombudsman indicted him for graft and malversation for allegedly rigging the procurement of the allegedly overpriced Makati car park building.
The Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) also found that Binay allegedly stashed away billions of funds in joint accounts with alleged dummies—kickbacks 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.
READ: AMLC: Binay got billions
Binay said unlike the allegations against him which he said were false, the accusations against Duterte appear to be credible because of the documentary evidence of the bank accounts.
“Malas niya ngayon. Dumating yung bintang na mukhang totoo. Sa akin, malayo sa katotohanan sa simula’t simula. Ito, dokumento ito, mahirap tayo umiwas dyan. Matter of facts yun, hindi naman kathang isip lang,” Binay said.
(They are out of luck now. The accusations came that seem to be true. [The accusations against me] were far from the truth from the start. Here, here is the document,
While he had considered Duterte as his runningmate, Binay now turned against the Davao city mayor and called him a “berdugo” (butcher) for his alleged links with the vigilante group Davao Death Squad, believed to be behind the summary killings of criminals in Davao city.
READ: Duterte confirms ‘ties’ with Davao Death Squad