Sandiganbayan to continue hearing graft case vs Elenita Binay

Elenita Binay

MANILA, Philippines — The Sandiganbayan has junked the appeal of former Makati Mayor Elenita Binay regarding its resolution last year that denied her plea to file a demurrer to evidence in the 2012 graft and malversation case filed against her by the Ombudsman.

In a resolution promulgated on Jan. 13, the antigraft court’s Fourth Division said the motion filed by Binay, the wife of former Vice President Jejomar Binay, was just a “rehash” of the arguments in her motion for leave filed in 2022.

“The other issues raised by the accused are evidentiary in nature and are matters of defense, the truth which can best be passed upon after a full-blown trial on the merits,” it added. Binay was charged over the alleged irregular purchase of P9.9 million worth of hospital equipment for Ospital ng Makati in 2000 and 2001. State prosecutors charged that the equipment did not undergo public bidding.

In November last year, the same division of the Sandiganbayan denied her plea to file a demurrer to evidence in which she sought the outright dismissal of her case due to the prosecution’s supposedly weak evidence against her.

Binay then filed a motion contesting the court resolution, arguing that the prosecution’s documentary evidence against her was “inadmissible” and without probative value. She also claimed that they failed to present “competent” witnesses to testify on the evidence presented in court.

Binay’s six coaccused, mostly former Makati City government officials like her, also filed their respective motions questioning the resolution.

“After a careful review, the court denies the subject motions for reconsideration as the grounds raised therein are a rehash of the arguments made in their motions for leave of court to file a demurrer to evidence,” read the court resolution penned by Associate Justice and division chair Michael Frederick Musngi. Associate Justices Lorifel Lacap Pahimna and Bayani Jacinto concurred in the decision.

The court noted that it had resolved the issues raised by Binay in November and that no new arguments were presented. “[I]t becomes evident that the motions should be considered as a mere scrap of paper,” it stressed.