Let due process take over

The subcommittee of Senate Blue Ribbon Committee chaired by Sen. Koko Pimentel has been conducting public hearings into the alleged anomalies of Vice President Jejomar Binay while he was mayor of the city of Makati for almost two decades. It started as “an inquiry in aid of legislation” of the alleged “overpricing” of the Makati parking building but has gone into many other alleged questionable transactions entered into by the erstwhile Makati mayor.

The sessions of the 16th Congress will go on recess this week for the Undas break and will resume on November 17.

But the triumvirate of Senate majority leader Alan Peter Cayetano, Antonio Trillanes IV, and Pimentel are not about to let go of the public hearings on the alleged corruption in the city government of Makati long ruled by the Binays up to now.

The expanded Senate inquiry hauled into its wide net of investigations the entire Binay dynasty from the incumbent mayor, son Junjun to daughters, Senator Nancy, Congresswoman Abigail and even the Vice President’s wife, Dra. Elenita Binay who served for one term as Makati mayor.

Aired live on radio and television, the number of Senate hearings on the Binays will eclipse previous long-running series of Senate probes to date. Now going into its tenth public hearing this week, the subcommittee will make sure the Vice President is literally tarred and feathered as in the past nine Senate hearings.

In fact, latest survey results of both the Social Weather Stations and Pulse Asia have confirmed Vice President Binay’s popularity rating has been adversely affected by such serious accusations on his amassing wealth through past anomalous deals. Despite this, Binay remains on top of opinion polls as the most preferred presidential candidate in the coming May, 2016 elections.

This is why the Vice President believes all this muck-raking was “politically motivated” by his rivals behind the seeming well-funded smear drive. He has proven so far some of these claims. Official records showed indeed the people behind the aerial photo of his supposed “Hacienda Binay” in Rosario, Batangas involved staff of Sen. Cayetano.

The Senate subcommittee has repeated its invitation to the Vice President to present and air his side on the allegations against him. But the Vice President is not biting the bait for him to appear before the Senate hearing.

Instead, the Vice President challenged Trillanes, one of his principal accusers, to a public debate rather than engage them in a one-sided Senate hearing. The Vice President echoed this challenge during his speaking engagement at the gathering of the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkasters ng Pilipinas (KBP) which readily offered to host the one-on-one debate.

Trillanes accepted the challenge albeit with a disclaimer that he is not a lawyer and debater unlike the Vice President.

Both parties are now working out the mutually acceptable mechanics for the debate tentatively being set at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) in Roxas Boulevard. Incidentally, the PICC is located near both the Office of the Vice President at the Coconut Palace and the Senate at the GSIS Building complex.

This public debate, if ever it materializes, will perhaps best serve the public interest. Each will be given equal time to argue his point on one-on-one basis. But certainly, this does not serve the ends of justice.

Surfing TV channels last Friday night, I caught a glimpse of former Manila mayor and now Buhay party- list representative Lito Atienza gesticulating to stress a point he raised against the Senate Blue Ribbon subcommittee’s insistence on a public hearing for the Vice President to testify. Appearing as one of the guests in the newest TV talk show program “Opposing Views” aired over 9TV, Atienza noted with concern the senators who have been holding public hearings have already showed and declared their prejudgment on the supposed guilt of the Vice President.

Disclosure: I was invited to join this TV talk show for this particular topic but I declined. I don’t want to join any sideshow to this political teleserye. We’re supposed to debate: “Are the accusations against the Vice President politically motivated or not?” While the entire one-hour debate was going on, the TV talk show program was also conducting live opinion polls with the home audience.

Without the presumption of innocence, Atienza argued, there is no point for the Vice President to appear before this Senate subcommittee where the three senators have already showed their true colors. “It is obvious that the Senate investigation being conducted against Vice President Binay is politically motivated. They are hitting the front runner of the 2016 (presidential) elections,” Atienza said.

Atienza’s staunch defense of the Vice President is understandable. He is among the shoo-in senatorial candidates of the United National Alliance (UNA) that Vice President Binay would reportedly register as a political party for the May, 2016 elections.

Atienza reminded the public to be more discerning as they watch how these investigations are being conducted. These senators ganging up on Binay, he charged, have moist eyes on the next elections, perhaps for higher office, like himself. “(But) We should follow due process so that the rule of law will prevail. In this way, our democracy will be strengthened,” Atienza urged.

At the end of the TV talk show program, the TV talk show program announced the results of their polled question: 80 percent of the people believe the accusations against the Vice President were politically motivated.

Earlier, the SWS opinion polls supposedly showed 8 out of ten Filipinos agree that the Vice President should appear before the Senate public hearing. Neither opinion polls can settle these cases of public interest.

The Senate has already done its part to expose these allegations after due investigations done in public. I must agree, however, that the senators must respect the democratic institutions of the Sandiganbayan and the Ombudsman which are the constitutional bodies mandated to handle these graft and corruption cases. 

The accused cannot claim these charges are being used for political brownie points once these are lodged before the constitutional bodies. Let due process do the rest.