Binay scores anew in case vs ex-Makati vice mayor

MANILA, Philippines - Vice President Jejomar Binay has scored another victory in the libel case he filed against former Makati vice mayor Roberto Brillante in 1988.

In a decision promulgated recently, the Court of Appeals (CA) dismissed Brillante’s petition assailing the hold departure order (HDO) issued against him by the Makati Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 145 in June 1992 over his libelous statements against Binay and his aide Francisco Baloloy.

The CA’s special 11th Division held that the lower court was correct in preventing the flight of Brillante over his failure to pay the fine imposed on him.

“The RTC acted within the ambit of law when it denied his motion to lift the HDO,” read the ruling penned by Associate Justice Pedro Corales.

Associate Justices Sesinando Villon and Nina Antonio-Valenzuela concurred with the ruling.

The complaint for five counts of libel stemmed from an open letter written by Brillante in 1988 addressed to then President Corazon Aquino discussing the alleged participation of Binay and Nemesio Prudente, former president of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines, in a supposed assassination plot against Augusto Syjuco, who was a candidate for Makati mayor at the time.

Baloloy, who was identified in the letter as among the persons who attended the meeting organized by Binay and Prudente to plan the assassination of Syjuco, filed a libel suit against Brillante.

The Makati RTC convicted Brillante of libel in June 2014. The CA upheld Brillante’s conviction.

In October 2014, the Supreme Court affirmed the conviction of Brillante and ordered him to pay Binay and Baloloy P500,000 in moral damages.

‘Allies jumping ship’

Meanwhile, Binay is not bothered by the possibility of his party mates leaving the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) to support the presidential bid of Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte.

“In politics, it (shifting of support) really happens, you should not get hurt,” Binay said on the sidelines of the 27th Pacific Insurance Conference in Makati City.

The Vice President praised boxing champion and Sarangani Rep. Manny Pacquiao for sticking with him.

He said Pacquiao chose to stay with him amid pressures to change his allegiance to other presidential aspirants.

Pacquiao is running for senator in 2016 under UNA.

Pacquiao was wooed by the administration’s Liberal Party to be part of its senatorial slate but he declined the offer.

During Binay’s visit in General Santos City on Friday, Pacquiao reiterated his support for the Vice President.

‘Unresponsive government’

Binay took a jab anew at the current administration, saying Filipinos could no longer afford a government that does not respond to the needs of the people.

“There is no room for insensitivity or aloofness in this world. Those who fail to understand the people they serve will fail – be they corporate service providers or political regimes,” he said. – With Helen Flores