Binays’ bid for separate trials nixed

The antigraft court has upheld its earlier ruling that former Vice President Jejomar Binay and his son could be tried together in connection with the controversial P2.2-billion Makati City Hall carpark building.

In a nine-page resolution on May 26 made public on Tuesday, the Third Division of the Sandiganbayan rejected Binay’s appeal of its Jan. 31 decision justifying the consolidation of the charges against him and his son, Jejomar Erwin Binay Jr.

Binay had petitioned the antigraft court to reraffle his criminal cases separate from his son’s in the allegedly anomalous construction of the carpark during their successive terms as mayor.

Instead of raffling off separate cases when they were filed against Binay in July 2016, after he stepped down as Vice President, the Sandiganbayan consolidated the charges against him with those of his son, which were filed five months earlier.

In all, Binay faces four counts of graft, one count of malversation, and nine counts of falsification of public documents for the first three phases of the project while his son, who was then a councilor, was charged with two counts of graft and one count of malversation.

Prosecutors charged his son, already a mayor, with two counts of graft and six counts of malversation for the last two phases of the project.

The antigraft court said Binay’s claim that the automatic consolidation of cases violated its own rules was baseless.
It said the Rules of Criminal Procedure allowed it to determine the necessity of a joint trial. It also said the charges against father and son “essentially emanate from similar or the same transactions” and were “not totally unrelated.”

The Office of the Ombudsman alleged that both Binays disregarded the procurement processes and paid P11 million to Mana Architecture and Interior Design Co.—one of the contractors—despite its failure to perform its obligations.

The Binays also allegedly failed to follow procurement requirements and made anomalous payments to Hilmarc’s Construction Corp., which was awarded three contracts worth P1.486 billion through an alleged rigged bidding.

The latest ruling, penned by Justice Sarah Jane T. Fernandez, said Binay failed to raise new arguments that could reverse the court’s January decision. The two other members of the division concurred with her—Presiding Justice Amparo M. Cabotaje-Tang and Justice Zaldy V. Trespeses.