Cayetano challenges VP Binay to face senate probe - GMA News

Makati building inspires cases vs. Binays. Graft and plunder complaints have been filed against Vice President Jejomar Binay and his son Makati Mayor Junjun Binay over the alleged overpricing of this 11-storey, P1.56-billion parking building. Complainants Atty. Renato Bondal and Nicolas Enciso VI filed the complaints with the Office of the Ombudsman on August 18. Danny Pata

Senator Alan Peter Cayetano challenged Vice President Jejomar Binay to face the Senate probe on the alleged overpriced construction of a Makati City parking building.

During the hearing of the Senate blue ribbon committee on Wednesday, Cayetano said Binay's presence is necessary as he was city mayor when the construction of the 11-storey building was approved and begun in 2007.

“I challenge the Vice President to face this probe...I don’t think na kailangan niya sabihin na pulitika lang ito,” Cayetano said.

“If he really wants to clear his name, and if he really wants to set a precedent as vice president, or if he thinks he’s the future president, then he should be open and answer questions. We can tell him that he will get all the courtesy and respect that is deserved of his office,” Cayetano added during an interview after the hearing.

During the hearing, Makati Mayor Erwin “Junjun” Binay was not able to answer a lot of queries from the committee saying that he was not privy to information regarding the construction cost estimates and other documentation and feasibility studies done before the project was approved, as he was not yet the mayor of the city during that period.

When asked if there could be some overspending in the project, Binay replied “it is possible, posibleng may nakalusot.”

Committee chairman, Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel Jr. said they will discuss in the next hearing whether there is a need to issue a written invitation to the older Binay to attend the probe.

“In the next hearing, tatapusin muna namin ang testimony ng mga witnesses. And then the committee members will discuss if we will issue a written invitation to Vice President Binay,” Pimentel said.

“I find nothing insulting about inviting somebody in the higher office, especially that his name is mentioned in negative light,” Pimentel added.

The next hearing on the alleged anomalous project will take place on August 26, Tuesday.

Nancy: 'Not a fair venue'

Meanwhile, Sen. Nancy Binay reiterated her challenge to her family’s critics to just issue an impeachment complaint against her father.

“Etong hearing na ito, it’s not a fair venue. Kitang-kita naman sa line of questioning ng ilang senador natin kanina...kaya nga ang hamon ko sa kanila, mag-file na lang ng impeachment complaint,” Binay said.

During the hearing, lawyer Renato Bondal, opponent of the younger Binay in the 2013 mayoralty race, alleged that the Makati City Parking Building was overpriced by P2 billion.

Last month, Bondal and former Barangay Olympia chairman Nicolas Enciso VI filed a plunder complaint before the Office of the Ombudsman against the the Vice President, his son and 21 other respondents in connection with the alleged overpriced project.

The older Binay was mayor of Makati in 2007, when the construction of the project began. The younger Binay was a city councilor. — BM, GMA News

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