MANILA, Philippines — Makati Mayor Jejomar Erwin "Junjun" Binay Jr. attributed the filing of the plunder complaint against him, his father Vice-President Jejomar Binay and several incumbent Makati City officials to the favorable results of a 2016 presidential poll survey where the vice-president emerged as the leading candidate.
Junjun said the charges filed before the Office of the Ombudsman on the supposed overpricing in the construction project of a new parking building in Poblacion, Makati was "nothing new," was "fabricated" and only a "desperate" move by the political family's opponents. He added that the complaint in the wake of a Pulse Asia survey result that shows that his father is a leading bet in the 2016 election for president.
Mayor Binay, his father and 21 other former and incumbent elected officials of Makati City were slapped by former Barangay Palanan chairman Renato Bondal and former Barangay Olympia chairman Nicolas Enciso of plunder over the alleged overpriced construction of the new Makati City Hall parking building.
In their nine-page complaint, Bondal and Enciso claimed that the new Makati City parking building was overpriced by some P1.3 billion.
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Junjun said the complaint was something expected by the family as leverage by their local rivals "with a reputation for running and losing in all Makati elections."
"Clearly our opponents have become desperate to put my father down. Their intention is to malign him by raising baseless accusations like the ones raised in their so-called complaint,” he said.
The construction of the 11-storey building located along F. Zobel Street in Barangay Poblacion, started in 2007, funded through the first appropriation ordinance which was proposed and approved by the Vice President, who was then the Makati City mayor.
The complainants claimed that the actual cost of the building according to data from the National Statistics Office should have be only at P245.5 million. The final contract price for the building was pegged at P1.56 billion.
They said that the initial appropriation of P400 million approved by the older Binay was overpriced by P154 million.
The complainants added that Junjun, along with the members of the city council, approved six more appropriation ordinances for the construction of the building, amounting to P1.16 billion.
"The overpricing of the building project could not have been committed without a deliberate, systematic, and unconscionable raid of public funds designed by the Binays and the other respondents to defraud the people of Makati and gain personal profit in the process,” part of the complaint read.
"This parking building has become the most expensive parking building in the country, if not the entire world, and the Binays and the other respondents, should be held responsible for this act of wanton misuse and plunder of public funds," the complainant added.
The project was turned over to the city government of Makati last 2013.
The mayor countered this, saying the complainants' allies were also present at City Council sessions where the funding and ordinances for the building were approved.
"This alone exposes the political motives of the complainants who are perennial contenders and serial losers in Makati elections," he said.
The family already saw the complaint coming and even revealed it to the media last month, Junjun said.
"We were correct. We said it will allege overpricing based on spurious grounds. We were correct. We said it will be filed by local opponents with a reputation for running and losing in all Makati elections. We were correct," he said.
Aside from the Binays, among those also included in the complaint sheet were former and incumbent Makati City Councilors Ferdinand Eusebio; Arnold Magpantay; Romeo Medina; Tosca Puno Ramos; Maria Alethea Casal-Uy; Ma. Concepcion Yabut; Virgilio Hilario; Monsour del Rosario; Vince Sese; Nelson Pasia; Salvador Pangilinan; Elias Tolentino; Ruth Tolentino; Henry Jacome; Leo Magpantay; Nemesio “King” Yabut; Armand Padilla; Israel Cruzado; Ma. Theresa De Lara; Angelito Gatchalian and Ernesto Aspillaga.
Also included was Cecille Cag-anan of the Commission on Audit for her alleged failure to safeguard public funds which allowed the Binays and Makati City’s local legislators to commit alleged criminal acts.
Binay said they are ready to face the plunder complaint. He urged the Office of the Ombudsman and the other concerned government agencies to be fair and impartial in handling the complaint.
“We are ready to face these complaints and all other allegations they intend to throw our way. The truth and the facts are on our aside. We just hope that the concerned agencies of government will be fair and impartial,” he said.
“The Vice President and myself will remain focused on our work. We will continue working to improve the lives of our people, especially the poor. We will not be distracted by fabricated complaints that are clearly connected to the 2016 elections,” he added.