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VP Binay’s accuser: Makati govt spent P1.2B on relocation site without electricity, water
By ANDREO CALONZO, GMA News
(Updated 5:32 p.m.) The Makati government under the leadership of then-Mayor Jejomar Binay spent P1.2 billion on a relocation site in Laguna that until now does not have decent houses, electricity and water supply, lawyer Renato Bondal told a Senate hearing on Thursday.
At the continuation of the Senate blue ribbon subcommittee hearing on alleged anomalies involving Binay, Bondal said P1.2 billion was appropriated for the Makati Homeville in Calauan, Laguna
The lawyer claimed P120 million was used to procure land, while P900 million was spent for development, which came in two phases.
Despite the millions spent on the relocation site, Bondal showed pictures of the area showing supposed housing units in the area that look like shanties.
“Makikita po ninyo, ito pong mga mamamayan sa Makati na giniba [ang bahay], kung ano man ang natirang materyales sa kanila, iyon po ang bitbit nila noong sila ay dinala sa Calauan, Laguna,” he said.
"Bilyon na ang ginastos ng lungsod ng Makati para sa isang relocation na dapat maipagmamalaki rin, ika nga dapat world class yung ating relocation site na ginawa sa Laguna,” he added.
Bondal even claimed that the relocation site does not have a decent water supply until now, and that residents only experience electricity for an entire day during their birthdays.
Senator Antonio Trillanes IV proposed an ocular inspection of the Makati Homeville project.
Reached for their comments, Binay's camp said the Vice President should not be blamed for the lack of amenities in the relocation area.
Lawyer JV Bautista, Binay's spokesperson, blamed former Makati Vice Mayor Ernesto Mercado, who supposedly owned the firm tapped by the Makati City government to provide water and electricity at the relocation area.
"Baka po ang kailangang magpaliwanag dito ay iyong contractor ng Makati Homeville. Sino po iyan? Iyan po ay awarded sa Twinleaf Construction. Iyan pong Twin Leaf, ang pagmamay-ari po niyan, walang iba kundi si Vice Mayor Mercado na naman,” Bautista told reporters.
No evidence yet, just ‘pretty good feeling'
In an interview after the hearing, however, Bondal admitted he does not have documents yet to prove that the Makati Homeville project was overpriced.
He said he assumed that the costing of the project was doubled based on the assessment of his camp’s own engineers.
"In so far as the Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the Calauan project, we do not believe that P1 billion was actually spent there. We believe that almost half of that is overpriced,” Bondal told reporters.
He also said he observed that the streets and sidewalks in the relocation site were substandard.
"Nagpupunta kami doon. Yung mga kalye, hindi maluluwag, makikitid. Yung sidewalks, wala pang isang dipa. We have a pretty good feeling na may overprice sa Calauan project,” Bondal said.
The lawyer further said that he is banking on the senators’ ocular inspection to determine the actual cost of the project.
"Kaya binanggit ko yan kanina, kapag nag-ocular sila Senator Trillanes, mabitbit nila yung usual DPWH [Department of Public Works and Highways] engineers,” he said. — RSJ, GMA News
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