Senator Antonio Trillanes and former Vice President Jejomar Binay. INQUIRER FILE PHOTOS
Senator Antonio Trillanes IV on Sunday asked the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte to sequester the so-called “Hacienda Binay” in Batangas and convert it into a drug rehabilitation and treatment facility.
Trillanes said that the 350-hectare farm, which is supposedly owned by former Vice President Jejomar Binay and was acquired through businessman Antonio Tiu, is conducive for treatment and rehabilitation due to its “vast area and serene environment.”
READ: ‘Binay farm 350-ha estate’
“During the hearings conducted by the Senate on the anomalies involving then VP Binay, it was raised that the 350-hectare farm, allegedly owned by VP Binay, was illegally acquired and violated the agrarian reform law. The current administration must immediately act to sequester this land and put it into good use by converting it into a treatment and rehabilitation facility,” Trillanes said in a statement.
The senator, who led the Senate Blue Ribbon subcommittee hearings on the alleged corruption in the construction of the Makati City Hall Building II, said that converting the property into a rehabilitation facility will support the Duterte government’s war against drugs.
“There are thousands of self-confessed drug dependents who have surrendered to the authorities, but, aside from monitoring, the government has yet to implement a concrete program to ensure that these drug users will not return to their old ways. We do not have a concrete plan, as well as facilities, to rehabilitate them,” he said.
“Any serious anti-illegal drug drive should include a rehabilitation program for drug users. We must treat and rehabilitate them, and prepare them for social reintegration,” the senator added.
Last Thursday, the Office of the Ombudsman formally slapped Binay with charges of malversation, graft, and falsification of public documents for the allegedly rigged procurement for construction of the P2.28-billion Makati Parking Building II.
READ: Citizen Binay faces graft, malversation, falsification raps over Makati parking building
Binay has posted a P376,000 bail for his temporary liberty. JE/rga