Trillanes to Binay: Problem is corruption, not just growth

MANILA, Philippines – Senator Antonio Trillanes IV took exception to Vice President Jejomar Binay’s criticism of the administration’s supposed failure to deliver inclusive growth. 

A staunch Binay critic and administration ally, the senator said that corruption, not just poverty and joblessness, is a key problem harming the lives of Filipinos. 

Binay on Monday, April 6, urged the Senate to focus on addressing gut issues instead of resuming its probe into corruption allegations against him next week. This followed a Saturday speech where he criticized the government’s alleged lack of focus on the poor and underprivileged.

Trillanes shot back: “Walang mangyayari sa ating bansa hanggang may mga kurakot na opisyal kagaya niya.” (Nothing will happen to our country for as long as there are corrupt officials like him.) 

Binay is focusing on the lack of inclusive growth as he and his family are at the center of a political and legal storm, and while he pursues his 2016 presidential ambitions.

In March, the Ombudsman suspended his son, Makati Mayor Jejomar Erwin “Junjun” Binay Jr, as it investigates the allegedly overpriced Makati City Hall parking building – the initial subject of the Senate inquiry. Next week, the Senate will resume its probe on corruption allegations against the Binays in two hearings on April 13, Monday, and April 16, Thursday.  

Trillanes refused to detail the topic of the hearings but said that it will not just be limited to the allegedly anomalous, lopsided deal between the Boy Scouts of the Philippines (BSP) and Alphaland Corporation. 

“[There will be] at least 3 more [hearings]. The hearing on April 13 and 16 would cover two different anomalies,” Trillanes told Rappler. 

Trillanes is among 3 senators investigating Binay under the Senate blue ribbon sub-committee. 

The panel’s chairman, Senator Aquilino Pimentel III, and Senate Majority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano are still out of the country, and have yet to expound on the agenda of the upcoming hearings. 

Binay laments efforts to ‘discredit’ him 

Ahead of the probe, Binay again blasted the Senate inquiry for spreading “slander and lies.” He said there are more pressing issues his critics must focus on. 

“Our country continues to face several challenges – the ever increasing prices of commodities, the lack of jobs, and the daily peace and order situation in our communities. Meanwhile, it remains a challenge for our government to address poverty and for the Filipino masses to truly feel the prosperity from our economic growth,” Binay said. 

Binay also criticized a host of other government agencies – the Commission on Audit, Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), the Department of the Interior and Local Government, the Ombudsman, and the Anti-Money Laundering Council – for their supposed “non-stop efforts” to discredit him. 

“I am ready to fight their continued attacks if it means being able to serve the Filipino people,” Binay said. 

Trillanes dismissed Binay’s statements, saying the Vice President cannot evade corruption allegations hounding him since his years as mayor of the country’s financial capital.  

“VP Binay can criticize the hearings all he wants but we will not let up in our drive to weed out the corrupt,” Trillanes said. 

The longest probe in the Senate’s recent history, the inquiry into the Binays covered various allegations from overpriced Makati buildings, the Vice President’s secret lavish estate in Batangas, to bid rigging and dummies, and recently, the BSP-Alphaland deal where he supposedly pocketed around P188.98 million (US$4.23 million) in 2010 campaign funds. 

There have been 17 hearings. In the last one, BIR Commissioner Kim Henares said that Binay’s friend, Alphaland president Mario Oreta, committed tax evasion in what senators said was an attempt to explain the loss of the money that supposedly went to Binay. 

The Vice President repeatedly refused to face the investigation, branding it as a political ploy to undermine his presidential bid. The leader of the self-styled opposition, Binay remains the frontrunner in presidential surveys. 

Binay’s spokesman, Joey Salgado, said the Vice President’s camp has no idea what new anomalies Trillanes will raise. “But why are we not surprised?” 

CA to rule on Makati standoff

Salgado added that the Vice President is also on the lookout for the Court of Appeals’ decision this week on the standoff in Makati, where his son is fighting suspension. 

Vice Mayor Romulo “Kid” Peña took his oath of office as acting mayor before the court issued a temporary restraining order on the younger Binay’s suspension. The appellate court is set to determine who should sit as Makati mayor. 

The Ombudsman questioned the restraining order before the Supreme Court, and maintains that preventive suspension is necessary to investigate corruption complaints against sitting officials. 

Still, the Vice President branded the Ombudsman and Senate probes as moves “to villify and embarrass me.”

In another criticism at the administration he is still part of, Binay said: “It is a pity that even the law is now being perverted in pursuit of their selfish desire to remain in power.” – Rappler.com