Junjun Binay seeks dismissal of charges

Former Makati City Mayor Jejomar Erwin “Junjun” Binay filed a motion for reconsideration before the court seeking the dismissal of his graft and falsification cases after the Sandiganbayan Third Division decided to pursue the trial.

His arraignment was scheduled on the afternoon of May 18, 2017, but was cancelled following the submission of his motion for reconsideration.

Binay, son of former Vice President Jejomar C. Binay, said there is no justification for the court to proceed with a fullblown trial on his cases, since there is lack of probable cause.

Binay was charged back in February 2016 with two counts of graft and six counts of falsification of public documents in connection with the overpriced R2.2-billion Makati City Hall Building II contracts.

His first graft charged is for the contract for Phase IV of the building.

Binay reportedly awarded Hilmarc’s Construction Corporation a R649.2-million contract even though the supporting documents provided by the company had several anomalies.

The second graft charge was for Phase V of the same project, in which Binay released R141.6 million to Hilmarc’s once again despite the deficiencies of its report.

He earlier tried to reason out that there is no specific allegation or evidence of any act which constitutes a violation of the Anti-Graft Law, and conspiracy for graft is not established by the evidence presented by prosecution.

As for his falsification charges, he said details of the invitation to Apply for Eligibility and to Bid (IAETB) for the MCHP were properly posted.