Binay’s wife slams revival of graft charges

MANILA, Philippines - The camp of former Makati mayor Elenita Binay, Vice President Jejomar Binay’s wife, complained yesterday of harassment after learning that the Office of the Ombudsman revived the charges against her over allegedly overpriced hospital beds for the Ospital ng Makati (OsMak).

Binay’s lawyer, Felicitas Arroyo, said her client was surprised to receive a motion dated Jan. 15 from the ombudsman’s Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP).

The motion, filed by Assistant Special Prosecutor Arieta Say before the Sandiganbayan’s Third Division, asked the anti-graft court to admit an amended criminal charge that would include the former mayor.

The original charge against Binay was dismissed by the ombudsman on May 9, 2011 for lack of evidence.

“The (OSP) did not even inform the former mayor of their decision nor did they give her the opportunity to challenge the legal basis for this highly irregular action. This is pure harassment,” Arroyo said in a statement.

A question of timing

Binay’s camp said the OSP, the prosecutorial arm of the ombudsman, is now headed by Overall Deputy Ombudsman Melchor Arthur Carandang in an acting capacity. 

The filing of the motion was done after the previous head of the OSP, Wendell Barreras-Sulit, was replaced or removed based on a Malacañang directive, they said.

The case against Binay stemmed from the alleged overpricing of hospital beds at the OsMak, with the former mayor originally included in the complaint along with several other city officials.

‘Surreptitious resurrection’

Arroyo criticized the “surreptitious resurrection” of the dismissed complaint against Binay, claiming that the OSP “completely disregarded the rule of law and the constitutional rights of the former mayor.”

Arroyo noted that Binay was not even notified that her previously dismissed case was reopened by the OSP 10 years after the complaint was filed before the ombudsman in 2003 and more than two years after it was dismissed “based on the same set of facts and evidence.”

The other co-accused filed a motion for reconsideration before the Sandiganbayan, prompting the court to direct the OSP to act on the appeals.

The OSP went beyond the Sandiganbayan’s May 12, 2012 order to resolve the motion for reconsideration of the other accused in the case since the anti-graft court did not order the reopening of the case against Binay, Arroyo said.