Senator Antonio Trillanes IV on Sunday asked the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte to sequester the so-called “Hacienda Binay” in Batangas and convert it into a drug rehabilitation and treatment facility. Trillanes said that the 350-hectare farm, which is supposedly owned by former Vice President Jejomar Binay and was acquired through businessman Antonio Tiu, is conducive for treatment and rehabilitation due to its “vast area and serene environment.”
READ: ‘Binay farm 350-ha estate’ “During the hearings conducted by the Senate on the anomalies involving then VP Binay, it was raised that the 350-hectare farm, allegedly owned by VP Binay, was illegally acquired and violated the agrarian reform law. The current administration must immediately act to sequester this land and put it into good use by converting it into a treatment and rehabilitation facility,” Trillanes said in a statement.
The senator, who led the Senate Blue Ribbon subcommittee hearings on the alleged corruption in the construction of the Makati City Hall Building II, said that converting the property into a rehabilitation facility will support the Duterte government’s war against drugs. “There are thousands of self-confessed drug dependents who have surrendered to the authorities, but, aside from monitoring, the government has yet to implement a concrete program to ensure that these drug users will not return to their old ways. We do not have a concrete plan, as well as facilities, to rehabilitate them,” he said. “Any serious anti-illegal drug drive should include a rehabilitation program for drug users. We must treat and rehabilitate them, and prepare them for social reintegration,” the senator added.
Last Thursday, the Office of the Ombudsman formally slapped Binay with charges of malversation, graft, and falsification of public documents for the allegedly rigged procurement for construction of the P2.28-billion Makati Parking Building II. READ: Citizen Binay faces graft, malversation, falsification raps over Makati parking building Binay has posted a P376,000 bail for his temporary liberty. Source: inquirer.net
Vice President Jejomar Binay had total deposits of P263.4 million in his bank accounts between 2009 and 2014, the Anti-Money Laundering Council has said, much more than the P13 million that he earned as Makati mayor and as vice president during those years.
According to a report on "24 Oras" aired Tuesday evening, the AMLC said that the discrepancy between Binay's supposed deposits and his salary indicated that the money in the bank accounts could have come from illicit sources and was not declared in the Vice President's Statements of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth. hese accounts, along with those of personalities linked to the Vice President, had been ordered frozen by the Court of Appeals. The AMLC looked into Binay's banking activities over the years when the Makati City Hall Building II was being built. Critics have alleged that the building was overpriced, with Binay receiving kickbacks from the project. The council found that Binay owned joint accounts with his financial adviser and alleged dummy Gerry Limlingan. The AMLC also found that several hundred thousand dollars were sent to Canada from these accounts. In a text message to reporters, Joey Salgado, Binay's spokesperson, denied the claim of AMLC that money transfers to Synnovate Ltd. and David Rink Consultancies in Canada were illegal. "Had AMLC bothered to do a simple Google check, they would have known that these companies are legitimate market research companies," he said. "They were paid for services rendered," he added. Salgado said the consultancy firms provided market research for Binay. "For market research and surveys starting 2008 when Binay started his bid for the vice presidential post. They have been conducting and providing market research for VP Binay since 2008, tinuloy-tuloy na," he told reporters at the sidelines of the conference of the Employers' Confederation of the Philippines. The AMLC also looked into accounts held by Makati Mayor Junjun Binay and found that he made transactions in the millions of pesos between 2007 and 2014. Around P26.8 million was deposited in the accounts and P12.5 million was withdrawn during those years, the AMLC said. This, despite Mayor Binay only getting a little more than P8 million from his salary as mayor. The AMLC said this indicated illegal and undeclared activities. The Vice President had earlier said that he only had five bank accounts.
"'Yong perang 'yon, sa limang 'yon, karamihan doon ay kita ko bilang abogado bago pa ako mapunta sa gobyerno. Kinita ng misis ko na doktora. Kinita namin sa dating negosyo namin. At kasama na doon yung mga inipon kong pera," said the elder Binay. The Vice President has repeatedly said that the allegations are part of a demolition job by the Liberal Party against him. Mayor Binay has not yet issued a statement on the matter.
