50 witnesses to testify vs Elenita Binay

MERCADO                                                                                                                                                     BINAY

AROUND 50 witnesses have been lined up by prosecutors to testify in the graft and malversation case against former Makati City Mayor Elenita Binay, wife of ex-Vice President Jejomar Binay.

Former Makati Vice Mayor Ernesto Mercado, an ex-ally of the vice president, is one of the 50 witnesses listed in the pre-trial orders issued by the Sandiganbayan Third Division. Another witness is former city Councilor Ernesto Aspillaga.

Elenita was accused of graft and malversation over the allegedly overpriced purchase of P45 million worth of hospital beds and medical supplies for the city-run Ospital ng Makati (OsMak) when she was Makati mayor from 1998 to 2001.

Representatives from the bed supplier then known as Mabuhay 2000 Enterprises (now AgriNurture Inc.) will also testify.

Former Commission on Audit (COA) Commissioner Heidi Mendoza will take the witness stand, along with her successor Commissioner Isabel Agito, auditors from the COA Special Task Force on Local Government Units Makati Team and other agency officials.

Prosecutors will also present OsMak officials Dr. Ernesto Santos, Dr. Ramoncito Coronel, Dr. Mabel Asunio, Dr. Mary Selene Pancho, other representatives from the government hospital, and Nicolas Lutero III, then chair of the Department of Health’s (DOH) Committee on Supplier’s Accreditation.

Other witnesses are engineers Linda Badong, Dean Montalban, Aida Maria Talavera, Maria de la Cruz and Carlos Odfina as well as Edna Forto, Jeannelyn Velez Dulay, Jeffrey Peña, Ramon Baruel Sr., Roberto Brillantes, Lilia Nonato, Ligaya Ibay, Rudolfo Fernandez, Maria Perpetua Reyes, Althea Suico, Love Grace Bulos and Lolita Valdez.

Also set to testify are past and present Makati City officials from the General Services Department, Human Resource Development Office, Committee on Canvass, Committee on Awards, Office of the Treasurer, Supply and Property Division, and Accounting Department.

The records officers of the Office of the Ombudsman and Office of the Special Prosecutor, in addition to representatives from the Securities and Exchange Commission, Department of Trade and Industry, DOH, Bureau of Food and Drugs, and the Manila City accounting department and business permit and licensing office will also be presented.

On the part of Elenita, she will testify in her own defense. Her lawyers will also call the process servers of the Office of the Ombudsman and Sandiganbayan, the records custodian of the Makati Prosecutor’s Office, the bids and awards committee, and city hall staffers who served under her.

Defense lawyers will also present COA’s Mendoza and the records custodian and stenographers of the Senate.

Former Inquirer reporter Nancy Carvajal, as well as news department heads of ABS-CBN, ABS-CBN News Channel, GMA 7 and TV5 will also be called to the stand.

The trial will be held for 14 sessions beginning on Oct. 17 until May 17.