Senate panel: VP Binay, son Junjun, 10 others conspired to overprice Makati building

(Updated 8:50 p.m.) Vice President Jejomar Binay, his son Makati Mayor Junjun Binay, and 10 others conspired to inflate the price of construction of Makati City Hall Building II, according to the report by the Senate blue ribbon subcommittee that investigated the alleged overpricing.

In its report, the subcommittee said the overpricing ranged from P1.124 billion to P1.389 billion — an act that constitutes plunder.

“Such massive accumulation or acquisition of ill-gotten wealth, carried out from 2008 to 2013, could only be plunder,” said the report, crafted by Senator Aquilino Pimentel III.

The report was officially released Monday after a total of 10 senators—majority of the 17-member blue ribbon committee—signed it.

Vice President Binay's spokesman has belittled the signing by the senators of the subcommittee report recommending the filing of plunder charges against the country's second-highest executive.

“The signing by the senators of the Committee report does not necessarily equate to the culpability of the Vice President,” said lawyer Rico Quicho, Binay’s spokesperson on legal matters, in a press statement on Monday.

He said the supposed findings and recommendation of the “hostile and highly partisan investigation conducted by the Sub-Committee are conveniently based on hasty conclusions, inadmissible evidence and malicious narrative of defeated local politicians.”

Subcommittee report

According to the report, all the elements of plunder have been clearly alleged and substantiated through the unequivocal and straightforward assertions, under oath, of the witnesses who have appeared before the committee during the hearings as well as from the documents in possession of the subcommittee.

“The subcommittee believes that there was a grand conspiracy to milk the construction of the Makati City Hall II parking building for every peso that it could yield, through massive unmitigated overpricing,” it said.

The subcommittee used three approaches—valuation approach, benchmarking against industry standard approach, and comparison approach—to determine if the building construction was indeed overpriced.

“Our conclusion is that, however we look at the numbers, however we approach the question, the Makati City Hall II parking building is very clearly overpriced,” it said.

The subcommittee also noted that the resident auditors assigned to the City of Makati and the Commission on Audit technical audit specialists who examined and audited the accounts pertaining to expenditures or uses of funds of the Makati City government over the course of a number of years, “miserably failed to discover the red flags immediately found by the COA main office during its special audit over the course of only a few weeks.

“For the years 2008 to 2011… the COA auditors found as reasonable the amounts appropriated and spent for the Makati building,” it stated.

As earlier reported, the subcommittee recommended that the Binays “be investigated for and, after proper proceedings, ultimately be charged with the crime of plunder, by the proper government agency.”

Vice President Binay, himself a former Makati mayor, signed as agency head for the preliminary services and for phases I to III of the building construction while Mayor Binay signed as agency head for phases IV to V.

Other personalities

Also recommended for plunder were Bids and Awards Committee chairman Marjorie de Veyra; and BAC members Lorenza Amores, Gerardo San Gabriel, Pio Kenneth Dasal, Ulysses Orienza, who are all officials of Makati City government.

Efren Canlas and Robert Henson, chairman and president of Hilmarc’s Construction Corporation, the building contractor; Orlando Mateo, owner of Mana Architecture and Interior Design Co, were also accused of conspiring with the government officials.

Gerry Limlingan and Ebeng Baloloy were also recommended for plunder for their alleged involvement in the kickback system.

The COA Auditors, meanwhile, should be further investigated for their possible involvement “in the grand conspiracy unearthed in our hearings,” the report said.

They were: Cecilia Caga-anan, Merla Bagsit, Gabriel Espina, Flora Ruiz, Cecilio Pineda, Roldan Menciano, Roberto Ferrer, Nemesio Avestruz, Ricardo Custodio, Allan Florentino, Zaldy Lavarro, Winiefredo Paquera, and Rosalina Prestoza.

The subcommittee recommended that businessmen Antonio Tiu and Laureano Gregorio Jr. be further investigated.

Batangas property

The report stated that the Vice President should also be investigated, and after proper proceedings, be charged for violation of Republic Act 6713 or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees for the non-disclosure in his Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth of the Hacienda Binay in Rosario, Batangas.

It further stated that during the hearing, it was established that neither Tiu nor his company Sunchamp Development Corporation was the owner of the Batangas property.

“The attempt of Mr. Antonio Tiu to muddle the issue as to the true ownership of the Rosario, Batangas property did not work. The subcommittee believes that the vast Rosario, Batangas property… is owned by Vice President Binay,” it said.

The subcommittee stressed that Binay, who refused to attend the hearings despite an invitation, was afforded all the opportunities to give his side or present any counteravailing evidence in his favor.

“He was formally invited to the hearing of November 6, 2014 and he did not appear. Vice President Binay summarily dismissed all of your subcommittee’s proceedings as ‘politika lang’,” it stated.

It stated that Tiu came forward and claimed that his company is the owner of the company, but when asked to present the basis for his claim, he only presented a one-page unnotarized agreement between him and Gregorio.

Department of Agrarian Reform Secretary Virgilio delos Reyes also testified that in one of his conversations with Tiu, the latter disclosed that he was only leasing the Rosario property.

The subcommittee said that Tiu’s testimony on October 22, 2014 on Sunchamp’s right on the property was very revealing because the businessman said that his company has usufruct or the right to use the land after he paid Gregorio the deposit.

Tiu said the ownership would be turned over to them upon completion of the transaction.

Findings will be dismissed by courts —Binay camp