GMA Brandtalk
Tracking
Archives
Filtered By: Topstories
News
VP Binay on critics: They want me out of 2016 polls
By AMITA LEGASPI, GMA News
Vice President Jejomar Binay, who is facing a corruption probe at the Senate and the Ombudsman, on Tuesday said various allegations have been thrown against him because his critics want him out of the 2016 presidential elections.
“They themselves want to be in power and see me as a threat to that ambition,” Binay said in a press statement.
“They themselves want to be in power and see me as a threat to that ambition,” Binay said in a press statement.
The Senate blue ribbon subcommittee is currently looking into the alleged overpricing in the construction of the Makati City Hall Building II that was started in 2007, when Binay was still Makati mayor. The next hearing is scheduled on Wednesday.
Binay has repeatedly refused to heed invitations for him to attend the hearings, saying he has been prejudged on the matter.
“Those investigating me are simply there because as they admitted, they do not want me to even launch a presidential campaign, obviously fearing that should the people support me they would be made accountable for their misdeeds and abuse of power,” he said.
Binay has repeatedly refused to heed invitations for him to attend the hearings, saying he has been prejudged on the matter.
“Those investigating me are simply there because as they admitted, they do not want me to even launch a presidential campaign, obviously fearing that should the people support me they would be made accountable for their misdeeds and abuse of power,” he said.
Two of the subcommittee members – Senate Majority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano and Senator Antonio Trillanes IV – have earlier expressed readiness to run for higher posts in the 2016 polls.
Binay, who has announced his intention to seek the country's top position, has been leading in surveys for the presidential elections.
During the Senate hearings, the elder Binay has been accused, among others, of rigging bids and receiving 13 percent kickback for every transaction the Makati City government entered into during his stint as mayor. He had been also accused of owning a 350-hectare property in Rosario, Batangas.
Binay has repeatedly denied the allegations.
On Monday, a Social Weather Stations survey result showed that 79 percent of Filipinos want the elder Binay to face the Senate probe.
Abuse of parliamentary rules?
Binay, who has announced his intention to seek the country's top position, has been leading in surveys for the presidential elections.
Accusations vs. Binay
The Vice President, his son Makati Mayor Junjun Binay, and 21 others are also facing a plunder complaint before the Office of the Ombudsman in connection with the controversial building.
Binay has repeatedly denied the allegations.
On Monday, a Social Weather Stations survey result showed that 79 percent of Filipinos want the elder Binay to face the Senate probe.
Despite the SWS survey, the Binay camp maintained that the Vice President would not attend the hearings.
"There are other venues where the Vice President can address the baseless allegations and lies—venues where there is no other agenda except arriving at the truth," said Cavite Governor Jonvic Remulla, Binay's spokesperson for political concerns. Abuse of parliamentary rules?
In his statement, the Vice President asked the public to take a closer look at the investigation of the Senate panel.
“The so-called legislative agenda of that investigation has been unmasked as simply an inquisition designed to bring disrepute to my person by the abuse of parliamentary rules,” he said.
“So far, they have resorted to humiliating me and my family with such viciousness I have not seen employed by the Senate before,” the Vice President added.
Binay said the legislative character of the investigation had been replaced by a route of inquiry that is judicial in nature but disguised as ‘in aid of legislation.’
“If there are serious accusations being peddled by my enemies, the truth could be proven in a way that civilized societies do—with hard, unassailable evidence,” he said.
“The so-called investigation at the Senate sends a dire warning to everyone: that for the sake of politics, civil rights are the first casualty,” Binay said.
The senators have denied persecuting Binay, saying they only want the truth in the corruption allegations in Makati to come out. — RSJ/YA, GMA News
“If there are serious accusations being peddled by my enemies, the truth could be proven in a way that civilized societies do—with hard, unassailable evidence,” he said.
“The so-called investigation at the Senate sends a dire warning to everyone: that for the sake of politics, civil rights are the first casualty,” Binay said.
The senators have denied persecuting Binay, saying they only want the truth in the corruption allegations in Makati to come out. — RSJ/YA, GMA News
More Videos
Most Popular
