Ex-VP Binay has forgiven ally-turned-enemy Mercado, Sen. Nancy Binay says

Former Vice President Jejomar Binay has already forgiven his enemies, including ally-turned-foe former Makati Vice Mayor Ernesto Mercado who had accused him of corruption, Senator Nancy Binay said Thursday. 

Nancy said since her father started taking Bible studies, he has been calling his enemies telling them that he has forgiven them.

“Nagba-Bible study ang Daddy ko so ‘yun ang mindset niya, kailangan patawarin. In fact, s’ya pa nga ang tumatawag para sabihin sa kanila na napatawad ko na kayo. (Isa sa kanila) si Mercado. Dahil dapat daw ‘yung binabasa niya, isinasabuhay niya,” she said in a news forum at the Senate.

Nancy admitted that she was so shocked with her father’s revelation that she was not able to ask him the others he phoned.

“Hindi na natanong kung sino ‘yung iba pa kasi na-shock na kami sa una niyang tinawagan,” she said.

She said the former Vice President, a lawyer, is now teaching law at the University of Makati.

Asked if she is ready to forgive her oppressors, the senator just said in jest: “Hindi pa ako nagba-Bible study.”

But she said her relationship with former senator and now Foreign Affairs  Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano and Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III seemed OK now compared to the time the Senate was investigating Mercado’s accusations.

However, she is still not in good terms with Senator Antonio Trillanes IV. Cayetano and Trillanes initiated the Senate probe.

“Kami naman ni Sec. Alan parang okay na kami, si SP (Pimentel) okay na kami, so siguro ang pinakamalaking challenge na lang dun sa isa, kay Trillanes. Hindi kami nag-uusap, hindi kami naga-eye contact,” she said.

Nancy said she just looks away when she sees Trillanes.

“Look away (ako).Hindi ko pa kaya (siyang kausapin),” she said.

In 2014, Mercado accused Binay of involvement in the alleged overpricing of the construction of Makati City Hall Building II, bid rigging, and receiving kickbacks for every transaction entered into by the city government during Binay's term as mayor.

He also accused Binay of owning a 350-hectare property in Rosario, Batangas, and a log cabin in Tagaytay Highlands.

Binay denied the allegations, saying these were part of the operation to discredit him and diminish his chances of winning in the 2016 presidential elections. — RSJ, GMA News