Ombudsman widens graft probe on Binay

The Office of the Ombudsman is probing deeper into allegations of anomalies in the purchase of office facilities by Makati City officials led by Mayor Jejomar Binay and his wife, former mayor Elenita.

Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez has approved the recommendation of acting deputy special prosecutor Wendell Barreras-Sulit for "further fact-finding investigation" of the transactions, which were said to have defrauded the city of at least P110.25 million, based on a Commission on Audit estimate.

The Ombudsman filed a graft case on Sept. 27 before the Sandiganbayan against the Binay couple and nine others for the alleged anomalous acquisition of office furniture and partitions for the new Makati City Hall from 1999 to 2001 for P232 million. Elenita was the mayor of Makati when the alleged anomalous transactions were made. Mrs. Binay also chaired the city government’s committee on awards.

The others charged aside from the Binay couple were Makati Councilor Salvador Pangilinan, City Administrator Nicanor Santiago Jr., former City Treasurer Luz Yamane, General Services Department chief Ernesto Aspillaga; Li Yee Shing, Jason Li, and Vivian Edurise, corporate officers of Office Gallery International Inc. (OGII); Beda Aquino, chief executive officer; and Bernadette Aquino, corporate officer of Asia Concept International Inc. (ACII).

The case against Binay and the others stemmed from a graft complaint filed by former Makati City vice mayor Roberto Brillante, based on a COA report on the contract.

Brillante filed on July 27 an urgent motion with the Ombudsman for a swift resolution of his three-year criminal complaint against the Makati officials.

In his four-page motion, Brillante wondered why the Ombudsman treated his criminal complaint only as administrative case. He said he included the incumbent mayor in his complaint because the alleged irregular purchases continued under him.

In its initial investigation, the Ombudsman discovered that the companies that had participated in the bidding for the contract or had bagged the deal through negotiations were owned and managed by one and the same person. The Ombudsman also cited evidence of overpricing in the contract.

The transactions involved OGII, ACII, Vonjaspher Enterprises, and MFT International Co.

Aside from the graft charges, the Ombudsman also ordered the dismissal of Santiago and Aspillaga for Gross Misconduct and Conduct Prejudicial to the Best Interest of the Service.

The Ombudsman said the administrative complaint against Jejomar Binay was dismissed because of his re-election to public office. Mrs. Binay, Pangilinan and Yamane had also been cleared of administrative charges because they were no longer in government service.

Assistant Ombudsman Mark Jalandoni said there was no politics involved in Mayor Binay’s indictment saying the case had been filed a "long way back."

"This has been filed a long way back and now it has been resolved," he said. Jalandoni also said that there was no preventive suspension on Binay because the case was already set for resolution when Ombudsman Gutierrez assumed her post. It is the Sandiganbayan, he stressed, which may impose a preventive suspension on Mayor Binay because it is deliberating on the case.