Sandigan junks graft case vs Elenita Binay; 6 more to go

Elenita Binay

The Sandiganbayan has dismissed one of the longstanding graft cases against former Makati City Mayor Elenita Binay over the local government’s purchase of furniture worth millions of pesos during her term.

The antigraft court’s Fifth Division granted her demurrer, effectively clearing Binay, then general services office head Ernesto Aspillaga, and several other City Hall officials and suppliers.

The case stemmed from allegations that a batch of furniture bought in 2000 was overpriced and marked by bidding irregularities.

Citing insufficiency of evidence, the court said prosecutors failed to establish the supposed conspiracy to rig the bidding in favor of supplier Asia Concept International Inc.

They also failed to prove that the bidding led to an overprice of P2.78 million and excessive purchases worth P5.91 million, the court added in its Oct. 28 decision.

The court said Binay and her coaccused could not be held liable for causing undue injury or giving unwarranted benefits to private parties under Section 3(e) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

Alleged  collusion

A special division composed of five magistrates heard Binay’s plea to have the case dismissed, with Justices Roland Jurado, Samuel Martires, and Jose Hernandez making up the majority who voted in Binay’s favor.

Justices Geraldine Faith Econg and Ma. Theresa Dolores Gomez-Estoesta dissented, saying the evidence was enough to continue the trial.

The Office of the Ombudsman alleged there was collusion between Asia Concept and rival bidder Office Gallery International Inc., as they were supposedly operated by the same person, Beda Aquino.

Prosecutors also showed two disbursement vouchers issued by the city government in September 1999 and October 2000 to Office Gallery and Asia Concept that both bore Aquino’s signature.

But the court said Aquino was not even listed among Office Gallery’s stockholders and officers. It added that the vouchers bearing his signatures would not prove his ownership of both firms because of the length of time between the two transactions.

The court also disagreed that the issuance of the purchase order on Aug. 17, 2000—the day after the bidding was held—indicated it was predetermined.

The prosecution merely assumed that the city officials did not undertake the proper procedures. “Clearly, it simply assumed that such post-qualification process could not be had in view of the alleged lack of time to do it,” the decision read.

Signatures prove nothing

As for Binay and other city officials, the court said that just because they signed the documents and vouchers throughout the procurement process does not imply they conspired to rig the bidding.

Their participation in the process “would not necessarily indicate that the said acts were all geared toward the accomplishment of the unlawful objective of a simulated or rigged one,” the court said.

The court said prosecutors did not submit evidence to show that city officials knew the process was marked by irregularities, and that Binay and Aspillaga issued the purchase order despite the supposed lack of public bidding. “There must be other grounds other than the mere signature or approval appearing in a voucher to sustain conspiracy.”

The court also rejected the contention that excessive purchases were made, as witnesses only compared the order with the furniture layout plan. It said prosecutors should have shown whether the “excessive” furniture actually went unused.

The court also disregarded an auditor’s findings that the furniture was overpriced because she was not presented to testify and could not be cross-examined by defense lawyers. It also noted how auditors merely compared the prices of the purchased furniture with those of similar items without obtaining a more reliable price benchmark.

The other coaccused were former city councilor Salvador Pangilinan, former city administrator Nicanor Santiago Jr. and Asia Concept officer Bernadette Aquino.

Pending cases

It was Binay’s second victory at the Sandiganbayan. On April 7, 2011, the Second Division dismissed a P58.04-million graft case filed against her also over allegedly overpriced furniture bought from October to December 2000.

But the 70-year-old wife of former Vice President and Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay still faces another case in the Fifth Division regarding furniture and fixtures worth P72.06 million from Office Gallery in 1999.

She also faces another case in the Fourth Division involving P13.25-million worth of furniture bought in 2000, as well as four graft and malversation cases in the Third Division involving P45-million worth of beds and sterilizers for Ospital ng Makati in 2000 and 2001.