Senate invites Binay to hearing

Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III. INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — The Senate Blue Ribbon subcommittee has formally invited Vice President Jejomar Binay to its hearings, asking him to shed light on allegations made against him in the course of its inquiry into alleged overpricing in the construction of the Makati Parking Building or City Hall II.

In a letter dated September 11, sub-committee chair Sen. Aquilino Pimentel III said he was “requesting” Binay’s presence in its sixth public hearing on September 25 “to inform the Committee about what you know regarding the subject matter under inquiry.”

“We look forward to your honor’s presence during the said hearing,” Pimentel said in the letter.

Since what was sent was an invitation and not a subpoena, Binay could ignore it without penalty.

Pimentel said in an interview he was personally not inclined to even suggest that the Senate subpoena the vice president.

“If he doesn’t want to attend, therefore he loses the chance to put into the records his testimony under oath. That is the only thing he will miss,” Pimentel told reporters.

Senate President Franklin Drilon, for his part, said that he would not issue a subpoena for the vice president if one were sought.

“As a matter of respect, I will not issue the subpoena. Respect for the office…. The invitation has been issued, it’s up to him to consider it,” Drilon told reporters.

The vice president has not said whether he would heed a Senate invitation or not, but his office has said he plans to hold a press conference this week to rebut allegations against him.

Binay and his spokespersons have criticized the Senate hearing as being politically motivated, since he had been topping surveys on voters’ preferences for the country’s next President.

Pimentel said on Sunday that a statement made under oath in the Senate carries more weight than a statement made to the media, since resource persons speaking under oath face the risk of being charged with perjury if found to have lied.

The subcommittee hearing has heard testimony from former Makati officials who alleged that anomalies attended the parking building project.

Former General Services director Mario Hechanova, who had been a member of the bids and awards committee, had said the bidding for the parking building as well as for other Makati infrastructure projects, had been rigged to favor certain contractors.

Former Makati Vice Mayor Ernesto Mercado had also alleged that he delivered bags of cash for the Vice President and his family, with the money coming from kickbacks for Makati’s infrastructure projects.

Binay’s spokespersons had criticized the testimony of the former Makati officials, and had claimed it was actually a “triumvirate of corruption” composed of Mercado, Hechanova, and the late city engineer Nelson Morales who had rigged the biddings in Makati.

Meanwhile, Pimentel said he had asked that subpoenas be issued to Makati Mayor Jejomar Erwin Binay, Ebeng Baloloy, and Gerry Limlingan. Mercado had pointed to the three persons as the recipients of the bags of cash containing the kickbacks for Binay.

The three have been directed to appear during the September 25 hearing.

Pimentel said that if the vice president attends the hearing, he would ask the witnesses and resource persons to give way so that the entire session could be devoted to him.

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