Senator Antonio Trillanes IV and former Vice President Jejomar Binay. INQUIRER FILE PHOTOS
Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV on Thursday welcomed the filing of graft and other charges against losing presidential candidate and former Vice President Jejomar Binay for the allegedly anomalous construction of the P2.28-billion Makati parking building.
READ: Citizen Binay faces graft, falsification raps over Makati parking building
In a statement, Trillanes, one of Binay’s most vocal critics, said the charges proved that the Senate hearings they conducted on corruption allegations against the former Vice Present were not politically motivated.
“Finally! This proves that the Senate investigations we conducted against him weren’t just political,” Trillanes said in a statement.
It was Trillanes who initiated the Senate probe, which began on Aug. 20, 2014 and ended in January 2016.
Binay, who refused to appear in any of the Senate hearings, had insisted that the probe was politically motivated to prevent him from winning the presidency. He was the poll leader before the start of the Senate investigation.
The Ombudsman on Thursday filed charges of graft, falsification of public documents and violations of procurement law against Binay for the alleged overpricing of the Makati City Hall Building II, which began construction when he was still city mayor.
Binay’s camp dismissed the charges as political harassment, calling Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales a protector of the previous administration’s Liberal Party.
READ: Binay camp: Graft raps Ombudsman’s tactic to protect LP
The filing of charges came almost six months after the Senate blue ribbon subcommittee wrapped up its investigation on corruption allegations against Binay after 25 hearings. IDL/rga