Ombudsman files graft charges vs former VP Binay

MANILA, Philippines (Updated 12:02 p.m.) -- The Office of the Ombudsman has filed graft charges against former Vice President Jejomar Binay over alleged irregularities in the construction of the Makati City Hall Building II, which has been said to be overpriced.

 

Binay, who was Makati mayor when construction on the building began, faces charges of graft, falsification of public documents and malversation.

 

The Ombudsman filed similar charges against dismissed Makati Mayor Jejomar Erwin Binay and 22 others in February over alleged irregularities in the bidding and procurement for the construction of the P2.2-billion building. The younger Binay was dismissed from his post over the case.

 

“The resolution that we issued is very clear. When he’s stripped of immunity, then we will consider filing the case,” Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales told reporters at a press briefing in May.

 

The Binay camp has maintained that the allegations were motivated by politics and were meant to damage the vice president's reputation ahead of a presidential run in the May elections.

 

Binay spokesperson Joey Salgado on Thursday called the filing of charges "a diversionary move intended to shield [Morales'] political patrons from public indignation." He was referring to complaints filed at the Office of the Ombudsman against former President Benigno Aquino III and former Budget Secretary Florencio Abad over the controversial Disbursement Acceleration Program.

 

Salgado said Binay is ready to face the charges. "The Ombudsman should also be ready to account for her actions in the civil suit now pending before the courts," he said, referring to a P200-million suit that Binay filed against Morales and others for defamation.

 

Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, a Binay critic and among the respondents in the suit, said the cases "[prove] that the Senate investigations we conducted against him weren't just political."