Binay: Trillanes all talk, no proof of CA ‘payoff’

MANILA, Philippines – “Puro siya sabi-sabi. Wala naman siyang napu-pruweba. Iyon na yata ang Tatak Trillanes (He is all talk, talk. He has not proven anything. That perhaps is the mark of Trillanes).”  

A visibly peeved Vice President Jejomar Binay challenged Senator Antonio Trillanes IV to prove his claim that the Binays paid for the issuance of a Court of Appeals (CA) injunction stopping the preventive suspension of his son.

“I think it’s unfair, for one; it’s so unfair. It’s a sweeping statement. Eh ‘di file-an niya ng kaso ha….Ihabla niya, graft and corruption (Then he should file a case. He should sue for graft and corruption),” Binay told reporters in Pasay City on Wednesday, April 8. 

 

Trillanes on Tuesday said that he will expose the people who fronted for the Binays, those they dealt with, and the amount they allegedly paid for the court order. The senator did not give details on when and how the supposed bribe was made, and who were the justices involved. 

 

The issue involves the writ of preliminary injunction the court handed down on Monday, stopping the government from implementing the suspension of Makati Mayor Jejomar Erwin “Junjun” Binay Jr over the alleged overpriced Makati City Hall parking building. 

In an interview on DZIQ on Wednesday, Trillanes alleged that a “fixer” was involved. Yet when the names of the justices of the court’s 6th division were read, he said they were not the ones who allegedly got the money. 

A lawyer, Binay said Trillanes could be held liable for his “style” of allegations.

“I will tell you it’s contemptuous. Contempt of court; that’s contempt,” the Vice President said. 

“Tatak Trillanes ay mamimintang, maninira, manlalait pero ‘di naman niya mai-pruweba. Kung sa salitang kalye eh, maporma kasi ito. Puro porma (It is Trillanes’ style to accuse, destroy reputations, and insult, but he cannot prove it. In street language, he is all show. All show),” he added. 

Yet the senator stood by his allegations, and said he will eventually produce proof. 

Trillanes told Rappler: “We will get to that. In fact, I will be filing a [Senate] resolution calling for an investigation about this. Eventually, VP [Binay] and the justices in his pocket will go down.” 

He said that the matter will be the subject of a probe separate from the ongoing Senate inquiry into corruption allegations against the Binays, starting with the parking building. 

The frontrunner in surveys on presidential contenders, Binay brands the investigation as a ploy to undermine his plan to be the 2016 standard bearer of the opposition United Nationalist Alliance (UNA). A member of the Nacionalista Party (NP), Trillanes is a vice presidential aspirant in 2016. 

The Binay patriarch insisted that the judiciary, not the Senate, is the proper venue for the allegations. 

“Maghabla si Trillanes para makapag-depensa naman ang kanyang mga pinaparatangan (Trillanes should sue so that those he is accusing can defend themselves),” Binay said.

The bribery allegation is the latest controversy to hit Binay, who has been under fire since last year when plunder complaints and the Senate probe brought out various corruption-related anomalies he allegedly committed in his 20 years as Makati mayor.

‘Path not straight if law isn’t followed’ 

The Vice President described as “the rule of law” the Court of Appeals’ temporary restraining order on his son’s suspension. The Ombudsman questioned this order before the Supreme Court, which will hear oral arguments on the case next week. 

Mayor Binay’s rival, Vice Mayor Romulo “Kid” Peña, said he will only step down as acting mayor when the High Court resolves the case. 

The younger Binay echoed his father, saying Peña, the Ombudsman, the Department of Justice, and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) must “follow the rule of law.”

“Puwede bang maging tuwid ang daan kung maging ang mga desisyon ng korte ay ‘di natin kinikilala? Kung iyan ang sinasabi ng mga nag-a-acting–acting lang diyan, bayaan na natin siyang umarte-arte diyan,” Mayor Binay said in a dig at the administration’s “straight path” campaign.

(How can the path be straight if we do not follow the decision of the court? If that is what this acting mayor is saying, let us let him act there.)

Peña belongs to the ruling Liberal Party. 

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said she will abide by the injunction the CA issued. 

Mayor Binay said there will be no disruption of service in the country’s premier financial district because of the protracted power struggle between him and Peña. 

“Walang conflict dahil wala namang sumusunod sa kanya. Ibabalik natin ang contempt. He has to be cited for contempt dahil kautusan na ng korte ang binabali niya. He is not above the law (There is no conflict because no one is following him. We go back to the contempt issue. He has to be cited in contempt for defying a court order).”

‘Binay mafia’ 

The Senate probe into the Binays resumes with two hearings next week. Trillanes has vowed to expose an anomaly Vice President Binay supposedly committed in his current post. 

Trillanes also called the Binays a “mafia family.” 

“This family appears to be a mafia family. All of them are involved in anomalies. When Mayor Binay was a councilor, he was part of this. Even Mrs Binay has a case, and now father and son. That is the context. If Vice President Binay becomes president, his entire family, even his in-laws, will be part of a syndicate,” Trillanes said. 

Still, the Vice President appeared unfazed by Trillanes’ planned expose next week. “No problem, okay lang! (It’s okay!)”

Mayor Binay also took a swipe at Trillanes, a former Navy officer and coup plotter. 

“Mahilig siyang magpasabog. Iyon yata ang trabaho niya: gumawa ng bomba.” (He is fond of exposés. That seems to be his job: to make bombs.) – Rappler.com