Ex-Makati vice mayor faces plunder raps

MANILA, Philippines - Vice President Jejomar Binay’s main accuser, former Makati City vice mayor Ernesto Mercado, allegedly has more than P80 million in unexplained wealth.

Plunder and forfeiture complaints are being readied against the former local government official who admitted pocketing public funds during the Senate hearings on the allegedly overpriced Makati parking building, a source told The STAR.

Mercado has been at the forefront of plunder allegations against Binay, a former mayor of Makati City who was succeeded by his son Jejomar Erwin Binay.

The complaints to be lodged before the Office of the Ombudsman would supposedly enumerate the properties and corporations owned by the former vice mayor.

These assets allegedly include the 100-hectare island property Underwater Garden Hotel and Resort in La Jala, Coron, Palawan; the multimillion-peso resort Villa Juanita in Coron, Palawan; and a one-hectare Grand Villa Pateros in Barangay Aguho, Pateros.

Mercado is also being tagged as the owner of a 200-hectare Grand Villa and Butterfly Center in Los Baños, Laguna; a 500-hectare Hunter Valley Plantation and Resort in Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija; properties in West Rembo, Makati and in Laur, Nueva Ecija; and a poultry farm in Palayan, Nueva Ecija, among others.

Corporations or businesses linked to the former vice mayor supposedly include a manpower services firm, a face and body care center, a finance firm, and a multi-specialty services company.

Mercado, a primary witness against Binay in the Senate Blue Ribbon subcommittee hearings, was a councilor of Makati City from 1992 to 1998 and vice mayor from 2001 until 2010.

In a hearing on Sept. 11, 2014, Mercado allegedly admitted under oath that he received a bribe of at least P800 million for his participation in the construction of Phases 1 and 2 of the Makati parking building.