VP fears son’s arrest next

MANILA, Philippines - After being ordered removed from his post by the Office of the Ombudsman, Makati City Mayor Jejomar Erwin “Junjun” Binay is likely to be arrested, possibly before he files his certificate of candidacy for reelection, his father Vice President Jejomar Binay said yesterday.

“We are expecting continuation (of) demolition by perception,” the Vice President was quoted as saying in an ABS-CBN News report.

“Second part of that, they will arrest Mayor Junjun,” he added in Filipino.

With the mayor’s chances for a third and last term now in peril, his sister Rep. Mar-Len Abigail Binay is getting ready to take his place.

The Vice President was in Cebu for the oath taking of new members of the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) in the Visayas when Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales released her decision to dismiss the Makati mayor.

The dismissal was due to his supposed role in the anomalous construction of the P2.28-billion Makati City Hall Building II.

Also ordered removed were 19 other former and current officials of the city, for grave misconduct and serious dishonesty.

Morales also slapped the mayor and his co-respondents with administrative charges, which bar them perpetually from holding public office.

The Vice President questioned the timing of the dismissal, noting that his son only received last week the order of the Commission on Audit to explain within 15 days the issues involving the construction of the building.

The elder Binay questioned why Budget Secretary Florencio Abad was not ordered suspended or dismissed despite a pending case against him before the Office of the Ombudsman.

He said the dismissal order was a clear attempt to stop the mayor from filing his certificate of candidacy next week. The mayor is still serving a six-month suspension order also from the ombudsman for alleged irregularities in the construction of the Makati Science High School building,

On Friday, Binay’s spokesman Joey Salgado said the mayor would still file his COC as the dismissal order was not yet final.

“They want to prevent Mayor Junjun from running. But they are wrong because there’s no final judgment yet, so Mayor Binay can still run,” Salgado said.

But if the ombudsman’s order is enforced with finality, Junjun’s sister Abigail – who is on her last term as congresswoman – will run instead for Makati mayor, Salgado confirmed.

“If my brother cannot run, I would most probably have to run for mayor,” Rep. Binay earlier said.

She said she would let her husband Luis Campos replace her as congressional candidate in 2016. Campos is seeking public office for the first time.

She said her brother would exhaust all legal measures so he could run for reelection in Makati City.

Lawyers from the Binay camp said they would either file with the Office of the Ombudsman a motion for reconsideration or elevate the case before the Court of Appeals or the Supreme Court.

Junjun’s lawyer Claro Certeza said they would consult election lawyers on the mayor’s plan to still file his COC despite his dismissal and perpetual disqualification from holding public office.

LP hand seen

Rico Quicho, the Vice President’s spokesman for political affairs, accused the ruling Liberal Party (LP) of using “remote control” to compel Morales to focus only on opposition personalities in its investigations.

“The Palace once again misleads the public,” Quicho said in response to Malacañang’s statement that some of its allies were also facing charges before the ombudsman.

“The so-called allies that the Palace says were charged by the ombudsman were mere sacrificial lambs. They are aware that selective justice will be an election issue so the so-called charges against these individuals are attempts to disguise its bias and partisanship,” Quicho said.

Among the administration allies who have been charged in connection with the pork barrel scam were former customs commissioner Ruffy Biazon and resigned Technical Education and Skills Authority director and potential LP senatorial candidate Joel Villanueva.

According to Quicho, hardcore administration allies like Abad hardly got a slap on the wrist over the controversial Disbursement Acceleration Program.

“In stark contrast, the ombudsman moved heaven and earth to hastily investigate and remove Mayor Junjun Binay without giving him the benefit of properly answering the charges against him and despite the dearth of evidence presented,” he said.

Sen. Aquilino Pimentel III, for his part, said he expects the filing of criminal charges – possibly plunder – to follow the mayor’s dismissal.

Pimentel said the ombudsman’s dismissal order was based only on the administrative aspect of the complaint against the city chief executive. He said the criminal aspect would have to be tackled more carefully because the “degree of proof of evidence” required for it is greater.

Pimentel chairs the Senate Blue Ribbon subcommittee that investigated the alleged anomalies in Makati City involving the Vice President and his family.

Not surprising

He said the findings of the ombudsman did not come as a surprise to him because his committee had issued the same position during its investigation into the matter.

“That was the same recommendation of the subcommittee in the first partial committee report. The committee found that there was wrongdoing in the construction of the Makati parking building 2 and with the large amount involved, we found that there was plunder,” Pimentel said in an interview over dwIZ radio.

He said the sub-committee found the parking building project overpriced by more than P1 billion or way above the P50-million threshold.

Plunder is non-bailable and is punishable with life imprisonment.

The partial committee report covered only the allegations of overpricing in the parking building project.

He said the sub-committee is also investigating several other infrastructure projects – Makati Science High School Building, University of Makati College of Nursing and Friendship Suites.

Pimentel said they hope to release a second partial report or the complete report soon. He added the reports are unlikely to carry the Vice President’s direct testimonies since he refused to testify during the hearings.

“We invited him three times and he refused to attend so that is no longer our problem. Serious allegations were made against them and they refused to appear,” Pimentel said.

“I am also surprised why it is like that because normally if a person is accused of something this serious, he would want to give his side to these. That’s what a normal person would do,” he said.

On the plan of the younger Binay to push through with the filing of his certificate of candidacy in spite of dismissal order of the ombudsman, Pimentel said it’s just part of the legal process in the country.

Pimentel explained that even if the dismissal order is final and executory, Binay can always make an appeal before the Court of Appeals.

“However, the burden on the petitioner is heavy to secure a review because he has to prove to the reviewing authority, in this case the Court of Appeals, that there was no basis in the action of the ombudsman,” Pimentel said.

Meanwhile, Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman Andres Bautista said that while they have yet to receive a copy of the dismissal order against Junjun Binay, the poll body is inclined to accept his COC if he files one.

“As I have been saying, it is a ministerial responsibility on the part of the Comelec to receive COC. But if we accept COC, it does not mean that you are qualified or you have the vested rights to run in an election,” he explained.

Bautista said he is deferring to whatever would be decided by the election officer in Makati City if Binay shows up to file his COC for his reelection bid.

Election lawyer Romulo Macalintal said Binay can in fact file a COC and run “because the decision (of the ombudsman) is not yet final.”

“He could file a motion for reconsideration and appeal to Court of Appeals if the MR is denied,” he added.

Macalintal said the ombudsman’s decision is “merely ‘immediately executory” to prevent the respondent from using his position or prevent tampering of records and similar acts which might prejudice the case.”

“We have a lot of cases where a candidate under custody of law or in jail were allowed to file COC and won the elections,” he added. Marvin Sy, Mike Frialde, Sheila Crisostomo