Binay, son face another plunder complaint

MANILA, Philippines - Vice President Jejomar Binay and his son Makati City Mayor Jejomar Erwin Binay, Jr. are facing another plunder charge, this time for their supposed involvement in the allegedly overpriced construction of Makati Science High School building.

Lawyer Renato Bondal and a group of anti-corruption advocates filed the criminal charge before the Office of the Ombudsman yesterday.

Bondal’s latest plunder complaint against the Binays accuses them of conspiring to defraud the local government of Makati City of P862 million in the construction of the 10-story school building when the elder Binay was still mayor of the city and when his son took over from 2007 to 2013.

Bonda’s 11-page plunder and graft charge claims that the project was built at the cost of P1.3 billion when the original estimate cost was only P470 million.

Also named respondents to the case were former and incumbent councilors Ferdinand Eusebio, Arnold Magpantay, Romeo Medina, Tosca Puno-Ramos, Alethea Casal-Uy, Virgilio Hilario, Monsour del Rosario III, Vince Sese, Nelson Pasia, Salvador Pangilinan, Ilias Tolentino, Ruth Tolentino, Henry Jacome, Leo Magpantay, Nemesio Yabut Jr., Armand Padilla, Israel Crusado Ma. Theresa de Lara, Angleliro Gatchalian and Ricardo Javier, along with members of the Makati City School Board in 2009.

Commission on Audit (COA) resident auditor Ma. Cecilia Caga-anan, the members of the bids and awards committee (BAC) at that time and officers of Hilmarcs Construction Corporation (HCC) led by engineer Efren Canlas were also implicated in the case.

Bondal said the Makati Science High School building, which was also built by HCC, was “implemented using the same modus operandi employed in the construction of the overpriced Makati City Parking Building.”

Bondal was also among the complainants in the first plunder case against the Binays filed in August, which the Office of the Ombudsman is already looking into as the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee conducts its own probe.

He said the respondents chopped up the project into six phases and conducted simulated bidding for each phase, a practice prohibited under the Government Procurement Act of 2003.

Bondal said he decided to file the second plunder case against the Binays after COA Chairman Ma. Gracia Pulido-Tan was surprised over how the school building cost reached P1.3 billion.

The final cost of construction was almost 400 percent higher than the original estimate, which is allegedly the same thing that happened in the Makati City Parking Building case.

Binay challenges Bondal

Vice President Binay remained unfazed by the latest plunder complaint filed against him and his son, challenging Bondal and his other accusers to face him in court.

“I am prepared to face the ombudsman to enlighten the people about the truth behind these allegations against me,” Binay said in Filipino.

Binay said beginning 2014, special audits and reports came out to supposedly pin him down and destroy his chances in the 2016 presidential elections, where he is the leading contender based on electoral surveys.

“I have only one question to those who are accusing me and the people behind this. In 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2002 and 2013, why there was no question or report of irregularities in the projects they mentioned?” Binay asked.

The Vice President said he would still go through the legal process even if he expects unfair treatment from his political opponents. – With Helen Flores, Danny Dangcalan