De Lima: I’m going to decide in the next few days

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima: Waiting for Senate report INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines–Wait a few days.

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima on Monday said she was closely following the Senate investigation of alleged corruption in Makati City involving Vice President Jejomar Binay, and would open her own investigation after meeting with the witnesses.

De Lima said she was considering waiting for the report of the Senate blue ribbon subcommittee investigating the allegations before launching an investigation by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the National Bureau of Investigation.

The subcommittee is looking into allegations that the P2.28-billion Makati City Hall Building II, built when Binay was mayor of Makati, was overpriced, that Binay took millions of pesos in kickbacks from contractors, and that he owns an 8,877-square-meter property in Comembo village, Makati, and a 350-hectare property in Rosario town, Batangas province.

She said the DOJ and the NBI were also considering proceeding with the investigation without waiting for the subcommittee’s recommendations.

“I’m going to decide within the next few days,” De Lima said.

“We will do it slowly, we will begin it already—that’s probably what I’m going to do,” she said.

De Lima said, however, that her meeting with former Makati Vice Mayor Ernesto Mercado and the other witnesses may be viewed as the start of the DOJ investigation.

What do they know?

She said she wanted to know the full extent of the witnesses’ knowledge of the alleged irregularities in Makati so that she could decide whether to pursue an investigation.

Mercado, lawyer Renato Bondal and Nicolas Enciso have been admitted into the government’s Witness Protection Program.

“We want to know from them [the facts of the case]. Anyway, we already have access to them, and they know everything. [We want to know] what evidence they have or at least [get further] information or leads for which the NBI can obtain supporting documentary evidence, such as from the Makati City government, the Commission on Audit or the Securities and Exchange Commission. [We’ll] start there,” she said.

“The NBI will first determine if what they are saying is true. For us to believe what they said, we will ask them what possible evidence [we can get] that can support or corroborate their allegations. The Binay camp is saying they (whistle-blowers) are liars because, allegedly, this is politically motivated. So business No. 1, let’s determine the truth. Let’s determine if they are telling the truth. Second, we gather other evidence that could boost their allegations, if those are true,” she added.

Hitting back

De Lima lashed out at United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) interim secretary general JV Bautista for saying on Sunday that the DOJ had no place in the Senate investigation.

“What’s the business of Attorney Bautista in preventing us from fulfilling our mandate, to prevent us from doing our job? No one can prevent us from doing an investigation because there is no such thing as immunity from investigation,” she said.

De Lima said she welcomed Binay’s intention to cooperate with the DOJ probe, but added that she could not understand the statements coming from UNA officials and other supporters of the Vice President.

“That’s a good sign if Vice President Binay himself said he was open [to the DOJ probe] but why are his mouthpieces saying those things? There’s a bit of overreaction from these people. I don’t have any decision yet. I am still about to make a decision. And nothing can prevent the DOJ and the NBI, if they want, to start the investigation,” she said.

Check the facts

De Lima advised Binay’s allies to check the facts before accusing her and the DOJ of being biased in favor of administration allies and ruling party members.

“Based [on] what I read, they are saying, if I’m not mistaken, that the DOJ has not yet filed cases about the Malampaya fund scam, etc., etc. Please check your facts,” she said, adding that the Malampaya cases have already been filed in the Office of the Ombudsman while the NBI report on the Inekon bribery case has already been submitted to the Office of the President and is “just waiting for clearance.”

“So where is the double standard that they are talking about, that we are not investigating others? We can’t go straight to the Sandiganbayan, we course it through the Ombudsman, just like in the [pork barrel scam] cases. So please check your facts. It’s a bit unfair that we are accused of having double standards when we are doing our investigations,” she said.

De Lima admitted that the filing of the third batch of cases in the pork barrel scam has been delayed, but said the cases were undergoing review and that meant the DOJ had been investigating.

“So why won’t we [investigate the allegations against Binay], especially since the allegations of the whistle-blowers are very serious?” she said.

She recalled that the DOJ had announced that the NBI would help the Senate by looking for Gerardo Limlingan and Eduviges Baloloy, two longtime aides of Binay who have been summoned to the blue ribbon subcommittee inquiry but have not shown up.

Bending the rules

Navotas Rep. Tobias Tiangco said Monday that De Lima’s claim that Binay is not immune from lawsuit betrayed again her double standard and willingness to bend the rules in cases involving people who do not belong to the administration.

“There is only one provision that applies to all impeachable officers, and the immunity clause does not distinguish between the President and the Vice President or the Chief Justice,” said Tiangco, interim president of UNA.

Tiangco said former Chief Justice Renato Corona was charged in court only after he was impeached by the Senate. By claiming that the Vice President could be charged during his term, De Lima showed that she would do anything to achieve her goal of obliterating the opposition in 2016, he said.–With a report from Gil C. Cabacungan