Trillanes resolution expands Senate probe to other organizations headed by VP Binay

Published January 22, 2015 4:51pm

The Senate panel looking into the alleged overpriced Makati City Hall Building II and other anomalies in the city will now also probe into supposed irregularities in the Home Development Mutual Fund (Pag-IBIG Fund) and Boy Scouts of the Philippines, which are both headed by Vice President Jejomar Binay.

At the resumption of the subcommittee’s hearing Thursday, Senator Antonio Trillanes IV said he filed Senate Resolution 1114 to expand the investigation to other organizations led by Binay.

“Sen (Teofisto) Guingona III (chairman of the Blue Ribbon main committee) gave this to the subcommittee because he believes it is consistent as far as the personality involved sa hearing natin. Sa nagtatanong sa ano ang koneksyon nito, ito po may bagong resolusyon kaya kunektado,” Trillanes said.

Senator Aquilino Pimentel III, chairman of the subcommittee, confirmed Trillanes’ statement.

“I will confirm that I talked to the chairman and he told me about the proposed Senate Resolution 1114. This committee will hear two proposed Senate Resolutions: 826 and 1114,” he said.

It was also Trillanes who filed the Resolution 826 which only covers the alleged overpricing of buildings and other anomalies in Makati City which dates back to the time when Binay was city mayor.

Boy Scouts

Under the resolution, Trillanes said the joint venture agreement between the BSP and a private firm for the transfer, construction, and development of a leased property in Manila should be probed.

The joint venture agreement resulted in the ongoing construction of the Suntrust Parkview, a building complex located near the Manila City Hall consisting of 1,768 condominium units priced at a minimum of P1.99 million each for a 24-square meter unit.

“Documents submitted by the VACC reveal that in July 9, 2008, Malacanang granted authority to enter into an agreement with the company concerning a property wot TCT No 68365 at 181 Natividad Almeda Lopez street in Ermita, Manila which allowed the construction and development of a 16-storey office building and the payment of P18 million to BVP which in turn would transfer 10,721.80 square meters of the land to Empire East,” he said.

He also mentioned the joint venture agreement of the BSP with Alphaland Corporation pertaining to the former’s property in Malugay, Makati.

During Thursday's hearing, former Makati Vice Mayor Ernesto Mercado accused Binay of getting almost P200 million from the land deal between the Boy Scouts of the Philippines and developer Alphaland Corp.

Mercado claimed Binay received an initial 5 percent from the deal, which was allegedly done on his birthday. On the other hand, the P600 million promised to the Boy Scout's were not given.

"Ang 5 percent na ito ay umabot ng halos P200 million habang ang Boy Scouts ay wala pa ring natatanggap," Mercado said. "Papel lamang ng pangako ang hawak ng Boy Scouts. P600 million na dapat hawak ng Boys Scouts... pero nasa papel pa lamang ito"

Mercado said Binay used the amount to fund his campaign for the Vice President position in 2010.

But in a statement, lawyer Rico Paolo Quicho, Binay's spokesperson for political affairs, said it was Mercado who actually asked for payoffs.

"Si Vice Mayor Mercado lahat ng kasalanan n’yang ginawa ay sinisisi nya ngayon kay Vice President Binay," Quicho said. "Si Mercado ang humingi ng kickback, sinabi na naman ni Vice Mayor Mercado na mayroon na naman pong kalokohan pero malinaw na siya ang humingi."

Pag-IBIG

Also under Resolution 1114, Trillanes said “there are allegations that such power has been abused, with the present chairman thereof using his position for his own personal interest,” referring to Binay.

One of the alleged anomalies was the exclusive award of contracts to a single security agency, Omni Security Investigation and General Services Inc which is linked to Binay, without a bidding and the giving of Pag-IBIG’s housing life insurance business to certain insurance providers allegedly picked Binay.

“Above allegations, if true, are in direct contravention to the provisions the Government Procurement Reform Act (Republic Act 9184) which mandates for competitive bidding in the acquisition of goods and services,” Trillanes said.

During the hearing, Pag-IBIG president Darlene Marie Berberabe admitted being unaware that Omni Security Investigation, the agency providing her security, was allegedly connected with Binay.

"Ngayon ko lang din tinignan yung GIS (general information sheet ng Omni) andun nga yung Hirene Lopez, hindi ko sya kilala nang personal. Hindi naging apparent yung connection dahil it (security contract) did not reach the board,” Berberabe told the committee.

Hirene Lopez, treasurer of Omni, is the wife of Tomas Lopez who is a member of the Pag-IBIG board of directors and president of University of Makati.

Former Makati Vice Mayor Ernesto Mercado earlier claimed the Lopezes are dummies of Binay.
— RSJ, GMA News

Tags: makaticityhallbuildingii, makaticityhallbuilding2, pagibig, boyscoutsofthephilippines, jejomarbinay