Binay camp demands apology from Trillanes

MANILA, Philippines - Senator Antonio Trillanes IV should publicly apologize for dragging the name of the Home Development Mutual Fund (Pag-IBIG Fund) in his corruption allegations, the camp of Vice President Jejomar Binay said on Thursday.

Binay's new political spokesman, lawyer Rico Quicho, dismissed Trillanes's allegation that the Vice President earned commissions in the supposedly anomalous awarding of housing projects to favored developers identified with Binay.

Noting that Trillanes himself admitted that he has no evidence, Quicho said the senator's accusation is a "misinformation campaign."

Binay is the concurrent chairman of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC). The sister in law of his chief of staff, Darlene Berberabe, is the Pag-IBIG Fund president and chief executive officer.

"At the very least, we should demand a public apology from Senator Trillanes because he has sullied the good reputation of a government institution. He owes it not only to Vice President Binay, not only to Atty. Berberabe but to the whole Pag-IBIG as an institution, to the members and to all stakeholders, partners of Pag-IBIG," Quicho said in an interview on ANC's Headstart.

"Masakit para sa mga kawani ng pamahalaan, lalong lalo na doon sa Pag-IBIG na nagtatrabaho araw-araw para mapaganda yung serbisyo sa taubayan tapos meron tayong isang senador na walang basehan, walang ebidenya na magbibintang na lang ng kahit ano. For what? For his own self-aggrandizement," he added.

Quicho believes Trillanes has continued attacking the Vice President in an effort to boost his survey ratings ahead of the 2016 elections.

"We feel that Sen. Trillanes is really hopeless at this point," Quicho said. "He is not gaining any attention so he is trying to drumbeat his name at the expense of the Vice President,"

In a separate interview on ANC, Berberabe said she won't seek an apology from Trillanes but she wants the senator to correct his "erroneous" information and clarify his accusations.

"Let's base our allegations on facts," said Berberabe, who had had denied that Pag-IBIG favors contractors in awarding housing projects.

"To say that we favor contractors in awarding housing projects is simply false because we do not award projects, nor do we deal with contractors. It is unfortunate that an allegation which discredits the integrity of Pag-IBIG Fund is made, but the basis is not provided," she said in an earlier statement.

Trillanes's Senate probe on the allegations against Binay will resume later this month and is expected to zero in on the Pag-IBIG controversy.

Berberabe said she is ready to testify in the Senate hearing. -Louis Bacani