Junjun Binay gets flak over unfinished P2-billion Makati hospital

MANILA, Philippines — A mayoral candidate who previously served as a witness in a Senate probe on corruption allegations against Makati City officials yesterday blamed former mayor Jejomar Erwin “Junjun” Binay Jr. for the unfinished Ospital ng Makati 2 (OsMak 2).

Renato Bondal said the P2-billion OsMak 2, which he described as a “white elephant” is among the allegedly questionable transactions Binay entered during his term as mayor.

“All of these problems began with Junjun. They constructed the building, known as OsMak 2, but it cannot be used by the residents of the first district because of the multiple cases filed against Junjun Binay,” he said.

“The city government spent almost P2 billion for this unfinished project. But no one can touch it, not even Mayor Abby (Binay) because it has to be audited first,” Bondal added.

Bondal said while no corruption case has been filed specifically for OsMak 2, the project remains unfinished because the Commission on Audit  is still conducting a fraud audit on the award, construction of and payments for the project.  

Bondal accused Binay and his group of “chopping up” projects into several phases, allegedly to make it easier to get kickbacks from the contracts.

Out of the P2-billion project cost for phases one and two of OsMak 2, P1.4 billion was paid during Binay’s term, Bondal said, adding that the city government may be required to incur additional expenses to complete the hospital.

Bondal and Binay are running against the latter’s sister, reelectionist Mayor Abby Binay.