A reply from Binay

Warm greetings to the 888 Weekly News Forum on the occasion of its 8th anniversary today and it is also on its 3rd straight year being shown on MyTV’s channel 30. The 888 News Forum has provided Cebuanos with on-the-spot news coverage, where issues of the day are dished out no-holds-barred. In fact the latest news about the plunder case filed vs Vice-Pres. Jejomar Binay was exposed in Cebu through the 888 News Forum. Kudos to the members of 888 News Forum, notably to Ricky Rama Poca, Ely Baquero and the man behind 888 News Forum, Consul Robert “Bobby” Joseph and of course its partner Hans Hauri of Marco Polo Plaza Hotel. More power!

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In response to our August 8th column that we got from the 888 News Forum on the alleged corruption of Vice-Pres. Jejomar Binay as reported by Atty. Rene Bondal, I got this emailed letter from Mr. Joey Salgado, Media Affairs head of the Vice-President. But since this letter is quite long, we will only print excerpts of this letter.

“Dear Mr. Avila:  Allow us to respond to your column published in The Freeman where you cited statements made by Renato Bondal, a long-time critic of the Binays who was in Cebu recently for a news forum. In the said forum, Bondal made baseless and politically motivated statements against the Vice President. Bondal made specific mention of allegedly overpriced multi-cabs purchased from a Cebu manufacturer by the Makati city government.

Allow us to reiterate that Vice President Binay is not an official of the Makati city government, so Bondal’s attempt to link the Vice President to the multi-cab issue only shows the political intent behind his statement and his visit to Cebu. These multi-cabs, purchased by Makati at P230,000 each, are considered high-end models. By way of comparison, converted closed van models purchased by a provincial government in Luzon cost P245,000 each while converted passenger type models bought by a Metro Manila local government were priced at P230,000 each. These purchases passed COA scrutiny.

If Bondal can point to a supplier of similar high-end multi-cabs priced at P85,000 as he claimed, I’m certain Makati would gladly buy units from this supplier. Clearly, the allegations of Bondal did not have factual basis. He merely used the arbitrary figure of P85,000 to support his allegation. Bondal employed the same flawed method in alleging overpricing in the construction of the Makati City Hall Building II.”

First of all, this reply from Mr. Salgado is of course the defense that they will have to use when those corruption cases will be filed in the Sandiganbayan. I myself almost bought a multi-cab with closed cab or what Mr. Salgado dubbed as “high-end” but the price quoted was just a little over a hundred thousand pesos. So how come they paid P230,000? As I have pointed out, there has never been a full-blown investigation on this purchase and unless and until there is one, we can only take their word for it.

They say that COA cleared them of this. But I have always maintained that the corruption in this country happened and continues to happen despite the presence of COA. Therefore we can only reckon that certain officials inside COA may have been on the take and they think that they can get away with this because there is no congressional investigation on this. But then who can conduct a fair and honest investigation on this case? Certainly it will not prosper in the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee where Binay has many friends.

Meanwhile Mr. Salgado added, “Let me reiterate that Building II is not a parking building and facility as claimed by Bondal. It is an office building with floors designated as parking spaces. It is like any other corporate building in Makati or Cebu City. Bondal has filed a plunder complaint against Vice President Binay, Makati Mayor Jun Binay and several city officials on this issue. As basis, he cited comparative data, which he got from the National Statistics Office.

But let me cite the findings of the Commission on Audit contained in a memorandum report dated February 17, 2014. The COA conducted an investigation into the construction cost of the building in response to a letter from Bondal dated January 10, 2014. COA Chair Grace Pulido-Tan directed the National Capital Region office of COA to probe the allegations of overpricing made by Bondal.”

Mr. Salgado explains this in great detail, but unfortunately we cannot print his letter in its entirety due to its length. So in the end of his letter Mr. Salgado says, “Bondal is lawyer and he knows that the Vice President is immune from suit while in office.  His objective is simply to malign the name of the Vice President who is the frontrunner in the 2016 presidential election. Nonetheless, Vice President Binay is ready to face these allegations. Sincerely, Joey Salgado.” I’m glad that he clearly stated that the Vice-President is ready to face those allegations. So let us move for the investigation of these cases.  [email protected]