Binay Jr. gets court permission to travel

Former Makati Mayor Jejomar Erwin “Junjun” Binay Jr. has been allowed by the Sandiganbayan to leave the country next week to bring his young daughter to the United States for medical consultation.

The Sandiganbayan Third Division, where Binay was charged with graft for alleged anomalies in the city hall building project, granted the former mayor’s request to travel to Los Angeles, California, from Aug. 14 to 26.

Binay, the only son of former Vice President Jejomar Binay who was included in the same graft case after he stepped down from office, had told the court he would bring his 6-year-old daughter to see an allergy expert in the United States for a “very uncommon” skin disease called the staphylococcal scalded skin syndrome.

He said his daughter’s appointment with the doctor is on Aug. 19 and 20.

The antigraft court ordered Binay to post a P608,000 travel bond and to appear before the court five days after his expected arrival.

The Sandiganbayan Third Division issued a hold departure order last Feb. 26 against Binay Jr. and 11 former city officials and employees who were charged with him with graft, malversation and falsification of public documents for alleged irregularities in the public bidding of the P2.2 billion Makati car park project from 2007 to 2013.