Junjun Binay, 6 others face contempt raps

Published January 20, 2015 4:28pm

Senator Aquilino Pimentel III has recommended that Makati Mayor Jejomar Erwin Binay and six other Makati local officials be cited in contempt for their continued refusal to attend the hearings on the allegedly overpriced P2.7-billion Makati City Hall Building II.

The Senate Blue Ribbon Committee is scheduled on Monday to discuss the recommendation of the Pimentel subcommittee, which is investigating Vice President Jejomar Binay and the Makati officials in connection with the overpricing and other allegations of corruption in the city.

Committee chairman Senator Teofisto Guingona III sent a letter to its members to attend their meeting on January 26 at 1 pm.

Pimentel, the chair of the subcommittee, has recommended contempt raps versus of Mayor Binay, City Administrator Eleno Mendoza, University of Makati president Tomas Lopez, Eduviges “Ebeng” Baloloy, former City Administrator Marjorie de Veyra, Engineer Line Dela Peña, and Bernadette Portallano.

The recommendation was dated January 13, 2015.

The subcommittee may recommend that certain resource persons be cited in contempt but the decision to do so belongs to the mother committee.

Among the members of the Blue Ribbon Committee are Senators Sergio Osmena, vice chairman; Grace Poe; Bam Aquino; Antonio Trillanes IV; Cynthia Villar; Miriam Defensor Santiago; Lito Lapid; Francis Escudero; Pia Cayetano; Ferdinand Marcos Jr; Loren Legarda; Nancy Binay; Joseph Victor Ejercito; Jinggoy Estrada; and Gregorio Honasan II.

The ex-officio members are acting Minority Leader Vicente Sotto III; Majority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano; and Pro Tempore Ralph Recto.

The subcommittee said it found the explanation provided by the seven unacceptable.

It earlier issued a subpoena against the seven and later a show-cause order for their repeated refusal to attend the hearings.

Portollano, in a letter sent to the subcommittee, said she was only a nominee of Marguerite Lichnock, one of the alleged dummies of Vice President Jejomar Binay, and she had no knowledge of the transactions subject of the investigation.

In their respective letters explaining their continued absence, Binay, Baloloy, Mendoza, Lopez, De Veyra, and Dela Peña said they were merely availing of remedies under the Senate Rules and were constrained to file a jurisdictional challenge because their right to due process, to be presumed innocent until proven otherwise, among others, were being violated.

In addition, Binay, Baloloy, Mendoza and Lopez said they also requested that they be provided with the list of questions that would be asked of them. Such request was not granted by the subcommittee.

Hearings not in aid of legistlation

Joey Salgado, spokesperson of Vice President Binay, said the subcommittee continues to ignore the constitutional rights of the mayor and city officials by refusing to provide them with questions in advance which is provided for in Senate rules.

“This clearly shows that the hearings are not in aid of legislation. They are part of a campaign of lies targetting the Vice President,” he said in a text message to GMA News Online.

Earlier on Tuesday, lawyer Claro Certeza insisted that his clients be given in advance the questions to be asked of them.

Pimentel said there was no law giving a witness, a resource person or a suspect in any hearing the right to get the questions in advance.

“This is a novel idea. If they want to question this all the way to the Supreme Court, okay. Maybe the SC will entertain it because of novelty of idea pero, as a lawyer, I know of no ground to grant the request first before enforcing a subpoena," Pimentel said.

"Pasensya na lang because hindi ko po makuha kung bakit yung Makati City officials are on a different level that they have such a right,” he told reporters.

The hearing of the subcommittee is set to resume on January 22.

Neri case

“The officials of Makati city hall have no intention of defying the subpoena issued by the subcommittee. However, they cannot be faulted for not appearing in the Senate because the request to be furnished an advance copy of the questions is yet to be acted upon by the panel,” Certeza said in a statement.

The lawyer cited the petition filed before the Supreme Court by former National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) director-general Romulo Neri against the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee in 2008 wherein the Supreme Court recognized that resource persons are entitled to know in advance the questions that will be asked by the committee.

“In the case of Neri vs. Senate Committee on Accountability of Public Officers and Investigations, et. al., G.R. No. 180643, 4 September 2008, the Supreme Court citing settled jurisprudence categorically stated that no (senate) inquiry is an end in itself; it must be related to, and in furtherance of, a legitimate task of the Congress, i.e. legislation. Investigations conducted solely to gather incriminatory evidence and ‘punish’ those investigated are indefensible. There is no Congressional power to expose for the sake of exposure,” Certeza said.

Plunder charges

Mayor Binay questioned the authority of the subcommittee to summon him to its hearings. He then said he would no longer attend the proceedings.

Mayor Binay, his father Vice President Binay and 21 other other Makati officials are facing plunder charges in connection with the alleged overpricing in the construction of the Makati City Hall Building II.

In December, a second plunder complaint was filed against the Binays. some former and current Makati officials and 10 executives of Hillmarc's Construction Corp. over the alleged overpricing in the construction of the Makati Science High School.

Both complaints were filed by lawyer Renato Bondal.

The Binay camp has dismissed the complaints and the allegations against them as politically-motivated, claiming that these are intended to destroy the Vice President and diminish his chances in the 2016 presidential elections. — RSJ/NB, GMA News

Tags: junjunbinay, makaticityhallbuilding2, makaticityhallbuildingii