Binay: ‘I swear by God I’ve not received’ kickbacks

MANILA, Philippines – Vice  President  Jejomar Binay strongly denied on Tuesday pocketing money from any projects  in Makati City, especially  the controversial parking building, which is the subject of ongoing investigation in the Senate.

“I swear by God and the people that I have not received nor asked money for this project or any other project in Makati,” Binay said in a statement.

The  Vice President  was  reacting to former  Makati City Vice Mayor  Ernesto  Mercado’s statement  during Tuesday’s hearing of the Senate blue ribbon committee that he  had benefitted from  the  allegedly  overpriced parking building.

Mercado himself  admitted that he benefitted from the project  when he was still  vice mayor of the city. If he gained from it, then he was almost certain that the  Vice President, who was then  city mayor, also gained from it.

But Binay  said Mercado’s allegations were all false and baseless.

“All that Mr. Mercado said are lies. He has been making these baseless allegations since 2010 when he ran and lost. The people of Makati know him as a liar and fabricator of stories,”  he said.

“If Mr. Mercado admitted that he received kickbacks from the Makati Building 2 project, it is only right that he be charged by the authorities. Nevertheless, Mr. Mercado conceded that his accusations against me are mere conjecture and speculation.”

“But in the face of Mr. Mercado’s admission that he pocketed money from the project, some senators wish to coddle and protect him. This saddens me,” the Vice  President said.

Binay said  it was unfortunate that the Senate was being used to malign his  name and that of his family’s to advance personal ambition. He then noted that  some  senators had  publicly announced  their intentions to run either for vice president or president in 2016.

He said he has been closely observing the proceedings at the Senate and by now, he said,  it was clear that the investigation would “never be fair and impartial.”

Even before the investigation some senators have already passed judgment based on the mere say-so of our opponents and without any shred of concrete evidence presented,” he pointed out.

“One of them even admitted that the investigation was due to my plans to run for president. It is therefore clear that the motive is politics,” he added.

Until now, however, Binay said the findings of the Commission on Audit that there was no overpricing have not been disputed.

The Vice President  promised that he would answer all “these baseless allegations point for point.”

“You may also rest assured that whatever baseless allegations they make, I shall continue serving you and promoting programs that will improve your lives,” he added.

Originally posted at 05:29 pm | August 26, 2014

RELATED VIDEO