VP Binay waiting for an invite to Senate probe

MANILA, Philippines–The camp of Vice President Jejomar Binay has yet to receive a formal invitation to the Senate investigation into the allegedly overpriced P2.3-billion 11-story Makati parking building.

Until it gets that invitation, it remains noncommittal to attendance by the Vice President at the Senate probe.

“We will wait for the formal invitation before responding,” Binay spokesman Cavite Gov. Jonvic Remulla told the Inquirer in a text message.

Subcommittee chair Sen. Aquilino Pimentel III on Saturday said he would issue an invitation to Binay after the two hearings scheduled this week.

Pimentel said the Senate will allot an entire hearing for Binay to respond to the charges, which are also the subject of a plunder complaint against him and his son, Makati Mayor Junjun Binay, which is pending in the Office of the Ombudsman.

Pimentel assured Binay he would be treated fairly at the hearing.

Last week, Binay criticized the way subcommittee members Majority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano and Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV treated hearing witnesses.

The Vice President did not rule out the possibility he would attend the hearing.

Binay, who was mayor of Makati for 20 years, has denied he and his family made money out of the parking building or any other Makati city project.

In an interview, Binay refused to comment on Trillanes’ statements against him.

“We’re OK on that. You know, that’s what they want—that they be mentioned for [political] mileage,” he said.–Christine O. Avendaño