Binays post bail for graft cases
Hours after criminal complaints filed against him by the Office of the Ombudsman were assigned to the anti-graft court’s Third Division, former vice president Jejomar Binay posted bail in the total amount of P376,000 before the Sandiganbayan yesterday afternoon.
Former Makati City mayor Jejomar Erwin Binay Jr., who was also charged with graft, malversation of public funds and falsification of public documents, joined his father in seeking temporary liberty and paid P100,000 bail.
Both Binays underwent standard booking procedures to avoid being arrested in case the Sandiganbayan issues arrest warrants and finds probable cause to proceed with the cases filed against them.
The cases against the former vice president that were supposed to be raffled to determine which of the seven courts would handle them were instead ordered consolidated with the criminal complaints earlier filed against his son that are already being handled by the Third Division.
Magistrates of the anti-graft court said the new complaints might as well be joined with those lodged against his son several months ago since all the cases stem from the same allegedly anomalous and overpriced contracts for the construction of the P2.2- billion Makati City Hall Building II from 2007 to 2013.
Binay Sr. was charged with four counts of graft, one count of malversation of public funds and nine counts of falsification of public documents on Thursday and bail for each count was set at P30,000, P40,000 and P24,000, respectively.
The former vice president is accused of favoring contractors Mana Architecture and Interior Design ( MANA) and Hilmarc’s Construction Co. for the design and construction of the Makati City Hall parking building during its first phases from 2007 to 2010 while his son, who succeeded him, allegedly continued the project from 2010 to 2013.
Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Amparo Cabotaje-Tang assured the Binays that the antigraft court will handle the cases without being swayed by poli- tics and she explained that the cases against the father and the son and all other respondents are being consolidated because they are results of the same investigation conducted by the Office of the Ombudsman.
“Remember, there were cases earlier filed against mayor Junjun Binay. And the basis of the filing of those cases was an Ombudsman Resolution. And that Ombudsman Resolution states that with respect to vice president Binay who was also a respondent in the same cases pending before the ombudsman, the ombudsman said that insofar as the vice president is concerned, the case will not be filed because of his immunity at that time,” she said.
“Now the cases that have been filed relate to the same transactions. So, to avoid any potential conflict in the ruling in any of the divisions of the court, the court en banc decided that these newly filed cases which were supposed to be raffled be consolidated with the earlier cases filed against mayor Binay,” Tang added.
The chief magistrate of the Sandiganbayan, who also chairs the Third Division, said the Binay cases would be handled and ruled upon based on evidence.
“We don’t care about politics, ang trabaho namin dito is not swayed by politics but by the evidence on record. Kung saan ang ebidensya doon kami (we go with the evidence),” Tang said, emphasizing that “the ultimate work of this court is to dispense justice.”
Now that he has posted bail, the former vice president is expected to file motions that would question his indictment and seek the dismissal of the criminal charges against him.
Magistrates of the Third Division headed by Tang, on the other hand, would have to evaluate the criminal complaints and resolve any pleadings that will be filed for the purpose of determining whether arrest warrants would be issued and if the cases should proceed to trial.
Win case raffled
Meanwhile, the Sandiganbayan also raffled other cases to determine which court will handle them, including the graft and malversation of public funds charges against Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian and former interior undersecretary Wencelito Andanar.
The cases against Gatchalian, stemming from his alleged involvement in the government’s anomalous purchase of a thrift bank for P780 million in 2009, went to the anti-graft court’s Fourth Division.
The case for violation of Republic Act 6713 against Andanar arising from his alleged failure to declare a property in his statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN) in 2005 went to the Seventh Division.
Gatchalian appeared before the Sandiganbayan yesterday afternoon to post his P90,000 bail.
He paid for his temporary liberty hours after the antigraft court raffled his graft, malversation of public funds and violation of banking laws case to the anti-graft court’s Fourth Division.
Among those charged with Gatchalian are former Local Water Utilities Administration ( LWUA) chairman Prospero Pichay Jr., other officials of the agency, corporate executives of WELLEX Group Inc., officers of Forum Pacific Inc. and officials of Express Savings Bank Inc. (ESBI).
Gatchalian, a former congressman who won a Senate seat in the May 2016 elections, is tagged as one of those who benefitted from the questioned transaction, along with other members of his family.
The lawmaker earlier denounced the filing of the cases against him just because he received a mere P2,500 from the sale of 14 shares that he owned.
“These 14 shares, which is equivalent to 0.00001886042 percent of the total shareholdings sold, are mere qualifying shares in the bank. Yet, I am being charged for receiving an unwarranted benefit of P2,500,” he said.
He noted that he never took part in the management and day-to-day operations of ESBI or even in the talks for its sale to LWUA.