TG Guingona makes final call to Junjun Binay: Attend hearings or face arrest

Published January 23, 2015 10:30am

Attend hearings or face arrest.

This was the final call made by Senator Teofisto Guingona III to Makati Mayor Junjun Binay and six others recommended by the blue ribbon subcommittee to be cited in contempt for their continued refusal to attend the hearings on the alleged overpriced Makati City Hall Building II.

“I am issuing a final call on Mayor Junjun Binay and other concerned officials of Makati City to respect and heed the summons of the Senate blue ribbon subcommittee for them to appear at the hearings being led by Senator Koko Pimentel,” Guingona said in a press statement Friday.

Guingona said he issued his final call as an effort to avert a situation where the Senate blue ribbon committee would have to issue an arrest order for Binay and the other officials concerned.

Guingona chairs the Senate blue ribbon committee.

“I want to make it clear to all parties concerned that there are rules, procedures and precedents that pertain to the continued refusal by persons being summoned by the committee to attend its hearings,” he said, adding that the committee will not tolerate the refusal of parties to obey summons.

“Let it be clear that it is within the power of the committee to order their arrest and detention,” Guingona said.

Prejudged?

In a text message, Joey Salgado, a spokesperson of Vice President Jejomar, said it seemed that Guingona has already prejudged the Makati officials.

“We thought that there is still a blue ribbon meeting on Monday for the purpose of deliberating the contempt issue. Apparently, the chairman has prejudged everything. We are simply asking for due process. We shall act accordingly once a formal order is issued,” Salgado said.

Lawyer Rico Quicho, another spokesperson of the Vice President Jejomar Binay, said they will just wait for the decision of the Blue Ribbon committee.

“We will patiently wait for the decision of the Blue Ribbon and act on it accordingly. The threat of contempt clearly shows the abuse of Senate’s power,” Quicho said in a text message to GMA News Online.

“While the subcommittee is tough in Mayor Binay and other city officials who merely assert their rights, it demonstrates preference to witnesses who have continue to lie under oath,” he added.

Koko's recommendation

Earlier this week, Pimentel recommended that Junjun Binay, City Administrator Eleno Mendoza, University of Makati president Tomas Lopez, Eduviges “Ebeng” Baloloy, former City Administrator Marjorie de Veyra, Engineer Line Dela Peña, and Bernadette Portallano be cited in contempt for their refusal to attend the hearings.

Pimentel chairs the Senate blue ribbon subcommittee looking into the controversial Makati building and other anomalies linking the Binays and other Makati officials.

But despite the threat of being cited in contempt, Junjun and the other officials again snubbed Thursday's hearing on the matter.

Binay attended only the first hearing. The Makati officials, on the other hand, were present during next couple of hearings but refused to attend the succeeding ones, particularly when they questioned the jurisdiction of the subcommittee.

In their respective letters explaining their continued absence, Binay, Baloloy, Mendoza, Lopez, De Veyra, and Dela Peña said they were merely availing of remedies under the Senate Rules and were constrained to file a jurisdictional challenge because their right to due process, to be presumed innocent until proven otherwise, among others, were being violated.

In addition, Binay, Baloloy, Mendoza and Lopez said they also requested that they be provided with the list of questions that would be asked of them. Such request was not granted by the subcommittee.

Portollano, on the other hand, said she was only a nominee of Marguerite Lichnock, one of the alleged dummies of Vice President Jejomar Binay, and she had no knowledge of the transactions subject of the investigation.

Public interest

In his statement, Guingona said that as chair of the mother committee, he is bound by his sworn duties to protect the interest of the public and the processes of the Senate.

“The exercise of the power to issue and arrest order is part of that protection,” he said. “This is a final call. I express the hope that the sound counsel of friends and colleagues would encourage Mayor Binay and other parties concerned the heed the summons of the subcommittee.”

Guingona aid the main committee will meet on Monday to decide on an appropriate next move.

“It is also my hope that Mayor Binay would have taken the more prudent step of heeding and respecting the summons by then,” he said.

Pimentel earlier said that he is willing to withdraw his recommendation once Binay and the six others decide to attend the succeeding hearings. — RSJ, GMA News

Tags: junjunbinay, makaticityhallbuildingii, tgguingona, teofistoguingonaiii