Cakes for Makati senior citizens overpriced too - lawyer

MANILA, Philippines - The lawyer who filed a plunder complaint against Makati Mayor Jejomar "Junjun" Binay alleged on Wednesday that other government projects in the city were also overpriced.

Renato Bondal claimed during the Senate probe on the Makati City Hall II parking building said the Makati City Hall itself was overpriced at P7 billion.

Bondal alleged that the Ospital ng Makati 1 and the Makati Science Highschool building were overpriced as well.

The lawyer said it was also irregular for the Binays to split the contracts of their infrastructure projects or bid out their phases separately.

"Lahat po ng kanilang pangunahing imprastraktura ay nadaan po sa mga chop-chop at mga utang sa Land Bank [of the Philippines]. Kaya po ngayon, ang Makati, pwede niyo pong tawaging chop-chop capital of the Philippines," Bondal told senators at a hearing.

Besides infrastructure projects, there were also overpricing in the other government services provided by the Binays, Bondal further claimed.

He said the birthday cakes given by the Makati City government to senior citizens cost more than P1,000, which is more expensive than the similar cakes of two popular establishments worth P570 and P390.

Senator Aquilino Pimentel III, head of the Senate Blue Ribbon sub-committee holding the Senate hearing, urged Bondal not to delve into the matter.

But Senator Antonio Trillanes IV defended the lawyer.

"I think Atty. Bondal was trying to prove a point that in Makati, hindi lang 'yung mga building ang pinagkakakitaan kung hindi pati 'yung cake," Trillanes said.

Trillanes asked Binay to submit to the Commission on Audit all the documents pertinent to the procurement of the cakes.

"We will refute that the price mentioned by Atty. Bondal is not the price reflective of our documents," Binay told Trillanes.