VP Binay hits detractors for linking wife to corruption issue

Vice President Jejomar Binay on Friday said he was saddened that his wife, Elenita, is being dragged into the corruption controversy involving the allegedly overpriced Makati City Hall Building II, a News TV Live report said.

Binay, who didn't attend Thursday's Senate blue ribbon subcommittee hearing despite a formal invitation, maintained that there is no truth in allegations that he and his son, Makati Mayor Junjun Binay, received kickbacks from the project.

In his speech at the inauguration of a lying-in clinic and senior office center in Laguna, Binay, a former Makati mayor, also said a friend, whom he did not identify, is now among his detractors.

"Ang malungkot nga lamang ho ay kasama sa mga naninira sa akin ay isang taong hindi ho marunong tumanaw ng utang na loob. 'Yun ho ang kinaiinisan ko at mahirap namang kaibigan ang hindi marunong tumanaw ng utang na loob," he said.

Among Binay's accusers was Ernesto Mercado, a former Makati vice mayor who was once allied with Binay.

The Binays said they will question before the Supreme Court the blue ribbon subcommittee's jurisdiction over the investigation.

In a press conference on Thursday, Junjun Binay's lawyer, Claro Certeza, said they will not ask the high court to stop the investigation but to rule that a whole committee and not just a subcommittee should look into the alleged anomaly.

However, Senate President Franklin Drilon said he did not believe the SC had power to enjoin legislative acts.

Mrs. Binay

Mrs. Binay ran for mayor of Makati in 1998 after constitutional limits prevented her husband from running for a fourth consecutive term. She won and served as mayor until 2001, when her husband took the reins of the city for three more terms.

Mercado has accused Mrs. Binay of benefiting from the 13-percent kickback her husband allegedly got from every infrastructure projects in the city during his incumbency.

Mercado also said Mrs. Binay received as much as P2.4 million from the city's garbage collection contract. He also linked her to alleged 900 'ghost employees' being maintained by city hall.

Meanwhile, Ernesto Aspillaga, two-term city councilor and former head of the general services department, claimed that no real bidding for projects took place during Mrs. Binay's term.

Mrs. Binay is facing a graft case before the Sandiganbayan in connection with the allegedly anomalous purchase of office furniture worth P13 million. In May, she asked for an acquittal, saying there is no basis to judge the purchase as anomalous. —Rose-An Jessica Dioquino/KBK, GMA News