VP Binay: Limlingan is my friend, he’s a good man

Vice President Jejomar Binay on Tuesday sought to clear the name of his friend, Gerardo “Gerry” Limlingan Jr., amid allegations that the businessman acts as his bagman and dummy.

In an interview with GMA News and radio dzBB anchor Mike Enriquez on the radio station's "Ikaw Na Ba, the Presidential Interview," Binay described Limlingan as his “best friend.”

Pressed to confirm his relationship with Limlingan, the Vice President said: “Totoo ho. Bakit ko naman itatanggi ‘yun eh diyan mo nga makikita ang tunay na magkaibigan. Sa oras ng pangangailangan, hindi itinatanggi na kayo ay magkaibigan.”

Despite their close ties, however, Binay said he has not gotten the chance to see or talk to Limlingan for quite some time.

Their distance, he said, is the reason why he has been unable to tell the businessman to show up at the Senate hearings on the corruption allegations against him to set the record straight.

Limlingan has been accused of owning several properties and bank accounts supposedly on the Vice President’s behalf. He was named in the report released by the Anti-Money Laundering Council as an owner of several bank accounts which received huge deposits, and transferred large sums of US dollars to banks in Canada from 2008 to 2014.

The Senate has ordered his arrest over his repeated failure to attend the blue ribbon subcommittee’s hearings on the allegations against Binay.

Even though Limlingan has yet to surface to disprove the allegations against him, Binay said his best friend is a good man.

Addressing the public, Binay said: “Mga kababayan, huwag ninyo sanang husgahan ang pagkatao ni Limlingan base dito sa mga ibinibintang [sa kanya]]. Magtanong kayo sa ginagalawan [niyang grupo ng mga] negosyante. Disente siya pero mahusay talaga bilang negosyante.”  — RSJ, GMA News