Binay denies bribing Sandigan justices

Makati City Mayor Jejomar Binay yesterday belied the accusation made by former Makati vice mayor Roberto Brillante that he gave the three justices of the Sandiganbayan’s third division P30 million in bribe to dismiss Brillante’s graft complaint filed against him in connection with the alleged overpriced purchase of office partitions and furniture for the Makati City Hall.

"I did not do that, your honor. As a matter of fact, I was hurt by that allegation that I filed a libel suit," Binay told the court’s presiding magistrate, Associate Justice Godofredo Legaspi, in Brillante's contempt hearing.

Brillante had earlier claimed, in a press conference, that the three justices allegedly received P30 million from Binay’s camp in exchange for the dismissal of his graft case. That prompted Legaspi, Associate Justices Efren dela Cruz and Norberto Geraldez, to threaten Brillante with an indirect contempt citation.

In an earlier resolution, the court branded Brillante’s allegation as "baseless, unfounded and devoid of truth."

Last Oct. 30, the third division dismissed Brillante’s case against Binay on the ground that the information filed by the Office of the Ombudsman was "fatally defective."

The court held that there was nothing in the complaint that would support the allegation that the bidding for the contract was "rigged or simulated"; that there was "close intimacy between the public offices held by the defendants and their supposed commission of the offense"; or that the contract was overpriced. — Mike Frialde