Binays, others cleared in Makati carpark case

MANILA, Philippines — The Sandiganbayan has acquitted former vice president Jejomar Binay Sr., his son former Makati mayor Jejomar Erwin Binay Jr. and several other former officials of the Makati City government of multiple criminal charges in connection with the allegedly anomalous construction of the P2.2-billion Makati City Hall Building II.

In a 202-page decision promulgated yesterday, the court’s Third Division said the prosecution panel of the Office of the Ombudsman failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt the guilt of the Binay father and son, their co-accused former Makati City officials as well as private respondents Efren Canlas of Hilmarc’s Construction Corp. and Orlando Mateo of Mana Architecture and Interior Design Co. (MANA).

“Basic in all criminal prosecutions is the presumption that the accused is innocent until the contrary is proved. Thus, the well-established jurisprudence is that the prosecution bears the burden to overcome such presumption; otherwise, the accused deserves a judgment of acquittal,” the decision, penned by Associate Justice Ronald Moreno, read.

“Here, the prosecution has miserably failed to prove the required quantum of evidence in all these cases. Acquittal, therefore, is in order,” it added.

Associate Justices Gener Gito and Edgardo Caldona concurred with the ruling.

Filed by the ombudsman in 2016, the cases involve a total of 23 counts of violation of Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, malversation of public funds under Article 217 of the Revised Penal Code and falsification of public documents under Article 171 of the RPC.

Binay Sr. was the primary accused in nine counts of falsification of public documents, four counts of graft and one count of malversation of public funds for phases one, two and three of the alleged overpriced construction of the P2.2-billion Makati City Hall Building II, also referred to as the Makati parking building, during his term as mayor.

Binay Jr., meanwhile, is the primary accused for two counts of graft and six counts of falsification for phases four and five of the construction of the parking building. He is also named as co-accused of his father for two counts of graft and one count of malversation for phases one, two and three of the projects.

All the cases stemmed from the alleged anomalous award of the architectural design and construction contracts to MANA and Hilmarc’s, respectively, for the parking building project.

The ombudsman said the contracts were awarded through “simulated bidding” and despite the absence of approved budget appropriation, project plan and specifications.

Apart from the Binay father and son, other former city officials acquitted of the charges were former Makati City bids and awards committee chairpersons Marjorie de Veyra and Eleno Mendoza Jr.; former BAC members Pio Kenneth Dasal, Lorenza Amores, Ulysess Orienza, Gerardo San Gabriel, Virginia Hernandez and Mario Badillo; former BAC Secretariat members Giovanni Condes and Norman Flores; BAC Technical Working Group members Rodel Nayve, Line dela Peña and Arnel Cadangan; city accountants Leonila Querijero and Raydes Pestaño and city cashier Nelia Barlis.

Meanwhile, the cases against other former Makati City officials Emerlito Magat, Cecilio Lim III and Manolito Uyaco were dismissed on the account of their deaths.

The Third Division has yet to release the full copy of the decision as of yesterday afternoon. But in the dispositive portion of the ruling, it said that apart from failure to prove the guilt of each of the accused, the prosecution also failed establish the conspiracy among them in committing the alleged crimes.

Furthermore, the court said no civil liability can be imposed against any of the accused as the facts established during the trial did not give rise to any civil liability.

With their acquittal, the Third Division also lifted the hold departure order it earlier issued against the accused. The court also ordered the release of the bail bond they previously posted for their provisional liberty.

The cases which stemmed from the construction of the Makati parking building served as the last remaining batch of cases against the Binay father and son at the Sandiganbayan.

The anti-graft court’s Fifth Division had earlier dismissed the graft and falsification charges against the Binays and their co-accused city officials in connection with the construction of the P1.3-billion Makati Science High School building, citing the weakness of evidence of the ombudsman’s prosecution team.