Ex-VP Binay petitions Sandiganbayan to have graft, other cases raffled off
FORMER vice-president Jejomar C. Binay, Sr. has appealed to the Sandiganbayan for a reversal of its earlier ruling denying his motion to have his graft, malversation and falsification charges raffled off and affirming its earlier decision to have the charges consolidated with the pending cases of his son, Jejomar Erwin S. Binay, Jr.
State prosecutors had charged Mr. Binay with nine counts of falsification of public documents, four counts of graft, and one count of malversation in connection with the Makati City Parking Building II of which construction was underway when he was mayor.
In his 20- page motion for reconsideration, Mr. Binay argued that based on the anti-graft court’s internal rules, automatic consolidation of an unraffled case with pending cases is not allowed.
In July last year, the court did not raffle off the cases of the older Mr. Binay and decided to consolidate the charges against him with the pending cases of his son before the Sandiganbayan’s Third Division, as the new cases “emanated from the same resolution that was the basis for the filing of the earlier cases...”
The younger Mr. Binay is facing separate six counts of falsification of public documents, four counts of graft and one count of malversation separately before the Third Division over the allegedly overpriced building. The Ombudsman had him dismissed as city mayor in October 2015 for related administrative liabilities.
Citing Sections 1 and 2 of Rule XII of the Revised Internal Rules of the Sandiganbayan, the older Mr. Binay said it is “imperative for the Honorable Court to raffle all cases which are filed before it.”
Mr. Binay said the raffle committee of the anti- graft court “gravely erred” when it automatically assigned the cases to the Third Division “without the benefit of the proper raffle.”
“Accused Binay Sr. is only asking the Honorable Court to abide by its own clear rules, in order for it to be free from the appearance of impropriety and be beyond reproach,” Mr. Binay said in his motion. —