Pimentel wants VP as ‘lone guest’ in Makati building hearing

MANILA, Philippines – The chair of the Senate Blue Ribbon subcommittee conducting hearings on the alleged overpriced Makati City Hall Building 2 said he plans to invite Vice President Jejomar Binay as a “lone” resource person in a forthcoming hearing.

In an interview on dzMM on Saturday, September 6, Senate Blue Ribbon sub-committee chairman Aquilino Pimentel III confirmed plans of inviting the Vice President to a hearing where he would be the lone resource person.

“Ganito ang plano ko: ‘Pag tapos na lahat ng witnesses…Magse-set ako ng isang hearing, at ang imbitado lamang doon isang tao lang, walang iba kundi si Vice President Binay,” Pimentel said.

(This is my plan: After all the witnesses have testified, I would set a hearing, and the only one I would invite there would be none other than Vice President Binay.)

Pimentel said that Binay can refuse the invitation, and that he would not impute any meaning in it, should be choose not to appear before a hearing on the alleged overpriced bulding that was bidded out and began construction when he was still Makati City mayor.

The Makati City Hall Building 2, which began construction in 2007,  is allegedly  overpriced by almost P2 billion ($45.9 million*).

The 11-storey office and parking building is the subject of a plunder complaint filed by lawyer Renato Bondal and Nicolas Enciso VI before the Ombudsman against Vice President Binay and his son, incumbent Makati City Mayor Jejomar Erwin Binay Jr.

Vice President Binay had justified the building’s P2.2-billion price tag, saying that it is of “high quality”and that the city government had even “saved P200 million from it. But Senators Alan Peter Cayetano and Antonio Trillanes IV believe that it is not the case. (READ: Cayetano on Makati building: ‘World class’ just Binay’s ‘palusot’)

On September 11, the Senate panel is set to continue to grilling the executives of building contractor Hilmarc’s Construction Corporation, and representatives from the Commission on Audit (COA). (READ: COA: ‘Many questions’ on Makati building)

The panel would also test the credibility of former Makati City vice mayor Ernesto Mercado and former bids and awards committee vice chairman Engr. Mario Hechanova, who testified against the Binays in previous hearings. (READ: Former employee: Fixing bids ‘usual practice’ in Makati)

Pimentel hopes that the September 11 hearing – the fourth on the Makati building –would be “productive,” or else he would have to set another one to wrap up the hearing and to “tie up loose ends.”

Many sub-issues have cropped during the hearings, ranging from the alleged overpriced birthday cake given by the city government to its senior citizens, to the alleged “rigging” of bids reportedly sanctioned by then mayor Binay. 

In a media interview  on Saturday, the Vice President again brushed off the allegations as politically motivated and linked this to survey results showing him leading other potential candidates in the 2016 presidential race. – Rappler.com

*$1 = P43.56