Binay walks out of Cayetano probe

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Nancy Binay walked out on the public hearing on the new Senate building’s cost of construction called by Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano after a heated exchange between the two senators.

The back and forth between the two political scions yesterday reinforced views that their turf war over Makati and Taguig cities has spilled over to the accounts committee review of the New Senate Building.

Cayetano took over the accounts committee from Binay after the Senate leadership shake-up when Francis Escudero mustered enough votes to oust Juan Miguel Zubiri as Senate president.

Binay resigned as accounts committee chair after she sided with Zubiri in the leadership change and became part of the Solid 7 bloc that is independent from the majority.

During the hearing, Cayetano grilled Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) officials for what he deemed as their failure to keep costs low in the construction Phases 1 and 2 of the new Senate building.

He insisted that the DPWH erred in saying in media interviews that the total P23-billion price tag he and Escudero came up with was wrong.

DPWH Undersecretary Emil Sadain was forced to apologize for an interview he made on GMA News correcting the P23-billion price tag.

Binay, who had been monitoring the hearing, came in later to ask Sadain to take back his apology, saying his calculations were correct.

“Do you want to help or do you want to disrupt this hearing? Why are you so mad at me?” Cayetano told Binay in mixed English and Filipino.

Binay said it was Cayetano who was interrupting the DPWH officials from explaining the cost of construction.

Cayetano stood by his P23-billion estimate, saying this includes the land acquisition on top of the P21.73 billion for the three phases of the project, according to the Multi-Year Contract Authority.

But Binay said the DPWH contract only covers the core and shell, as well as the design and fittings, not the land acquisition.

The hearing turned nasty when Cayetano accused Binay of making up a story about him in her media interviews, even saying that she was feeding questions to radio anchors so that the issue will be about the Makati-Taguig rivalry.

He took issue with Binay’s press briefing on Tuesday when she said that a colleague has been backstabbing her in the Senate.

Cayetano instead urged his colleague to file a case if there was indeed backstabbing.

Binay retorted she never said it was Cayetano who was backstabbing her, insinuating that his overreaction belied his professed innocence.

“Ma’am, all I’m saying is your name is Maria Lourdes, not Marites! So let’s fix this, nakakahiya na,” Cayetano said.

“Hindi tayo Marites, Mr. Chair,” Binay replied, saying she was no rumor monger.

Binay rested her case when she was able to confirm with Sadain that there was no P23-billion price tag based on DPWH documents.

“Thank you, Mr. Chair. I made my point. There is no such thing as P23 billion,” Binay said before walking out.

This irked Cayetano, who told the hearing behind Binay’s back: “Nabuang ka na, day! Let’s finish this properly. This is the Senate, not a market!”

In an ambush interview after she walked out, Binay took issue with Cayetano’s choice of words about her being a “palengkera” when it was him who was being emotional during the hearing.

“Is he demeaning the market vendors?” Binay said. “At the end of the day, their intention is to destroy the reputation of the Senate as an institution.”

She said the hearing brought back memories of 2015 when her family was “persecuted” during a Senate investigation of her father, former vice president Jejomar Binay, and her brother, former Makati mayor Junjun Binay, over the allegedly overpriced Makati city hall parking building. The two Binays are facing graft cases before the Sandiganbayan. – Cecille Suerte Felipe