Heidi Mendoza distances self from COA probe of Makati condominium

Commissioner Heidi Mendoza

Commissioner Heidi Mendoza of the Commission on Audit (COA) on Tuesday distanced herself from the ongoing investigation into a housing project done during Vice President Jejomar Binay’s term as mayor of Makati City.

“I have nothing to do with the investigation,” she told reporters in Filipino at the sidelines of the House committee on appropriation’s hearing on COA’s proposed P8.34-billion project for next year.

Mendoza said the COA initiated an audit after receiving information on the Makati Friendship Suites through the agency’s “citizens’ desk.” “It’s just one of the complaints,” she said.

Binay earlier blasted Mendoza for the investigation, saying she “should explain her obsessive interest in Makati, particularly the programs during my term as mayor.”

Binay, who is planning to run for President in 2016, claimed that there was a demolition job against him, but maintained that President Benigno Aquino was not part of the purported plot.

Asked why Binay would single her out, Mendoza said: “I don’t know. I don’t want to figure out why.”