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VP Binay daughter’s Instagram posts used as evidence in Senate probe
Senator Alan Peter Cayetano on Thursday presented photos posted on Instagram by Vice President Jejomar Binay's youngest daughter as evidence backing his claim that the second highest official in the land was the real owner of a sprawling farm estate in Rosario, Batangas.
During the hearing of the Senate Blue Ribbon Subcommittee on the corruption allegations against Binay, the senator showed the Instagram account of Joanna Marie Blanca Binay, who uses the account name "jmblicious."
Cayetano said the younger Binay posted her pictures inside the farm that showed her posing in one of the statues, swimming in one of the pools, and having dinner with her family. The younger Binay also posted a picture of her father singing in a videoke session.
The pictures were posted from 2012 to 2014.
The young Binay wrote in the caption of one of the pictures, “Our place in Batangas” and “family dinner at Batangas.”
Cayetano believes the social media posts prove that the Binays still own the property, contrary to their claim that they already sold it years ago.
Binay’s camp, however, said photos could not be considered as proof of ownership.
“Nag-videoke lang, may-ari ka na? The Vice President and his family have been open about using the facilities and visiting Rosario," said Cavite Governor Juanito Victor Remulla said, Binay's spokesman on political affairs.
"For one, Dr. Binay has a flower farm there. But these photos, like previous photos shown by Sen. Cayetano, are not proof of ownership,” Remulla said in a press statement.
During the hearing, Cayetano asked the lawyer of businessman Antonio Tiu—who had said his company had usufruct rights over the Rosario property—if their camp had filed a complaint against the Binay daughter for claiming the property as their "place in Batangas."
Lawyer Martin Subido indicated that there was nothing in the Instagram post that was contrary to his client Tiu's interests over the property.
Members of the subcommittee looking into the alleged overpricing of the Makati City Hall Building II and Binay's alleged corruption and hidden wealth devoted almost the entire hearing in trying to disprove Tiu's claim that he was the legitimate owner of the property.
One-page document
During the hearing, the Senate subcommittee also accepted as evidence journalist Raissa Robles' audio recording of an interview with Binay in 2010. In the interview, Binay indicated that he owned a pig farm in Batangas.
The subcommittee also received the testimony of Agrarian Reform Secretary Virgilio Delos Reyes that Tiu told him that he was only leasing the agri-tourism park in the Rosario property. —KBK/NB, GMA News
