MANILA, Philippines – Vice President Jejomar "Jojo" Binay on Tuesday admitted that there are Makati outsider senior citizens who benefited from their program but clarified that these beneficiaries gave service to Makati City.
Binay responded to Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV’s allegations of “ghost beneficiaries” in Makati City which he mentioned at the hearing of the Senate Blue Ribbon Sub-Committee. He said these beneficiaries are senior citizens from other cities and municipalities who rendered service in Makati City.
“Halimbawa teacher, halimbawa pulis na hindi taga-Makati. Eh nakikinabang naman ang Makati sa serbisyo nila binibigyan namin 'yun,” Binay said in an interview with dzMM.
Aside from non-residents of Makati who benefited from the senior citizen program, Trillanes also referred to ghost beneficiaries as residents who already passed away but are still part of the list of beneficiaries of the program.
Binay said that if the claims on beneficiaries who should not have been entitled to the program are true, the sub-committee should have just told them so that they could have acted on it instead of using it as another criticism.
“Ba't naman ako kasama na naman dyan? Ang mayor pipirmahan mo 'yun, merong appropriation 'yan. Ngayon kung 'yung wala na, namatay na, bakit sa 'kin na naman magtatapos yan?" Binay said.
The vice president said that he will sue Trillanes for his accusations.
Last Friday, Binay's camp, through spokesman for media affairs Joey Salgado, denied that there are ghost senior citizens in Makati City. He stressed that beneficiaries of the programs follow a strict process in applying for the program.
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