— Vice President Jejomar Binay files separate libel complaints against Senator Antonio Trillanes and former Makati Vice Mayor Ernesto Mercado before the Makati Regional Trial Court on Thursday. The raps pertain to claims made by Trillanes and Mercado in connection with city’s Senior Citizens program and a Boy Scouts of the Philippines (BSP) deal with Alphaland. (MNS photo)
MANILA (Mabuhay) – Vice President Jejomar Binay on Friday filed a libel complaint against former Makati Vice Mayor Ernesto Mercado over the latter’s supposed malicious accusations that Binay extorted units from condominium developers in Makati City.
The nine-page complaint was filed before the Makati City prosecutor’s office.
“This claim has been publicly belied by the developers themselves. It only shows that Mercado is a pathological liar and has zero credibility,” Binay’s lawyer, Atty. Claro Certeza, said.
In a Senate blue ribbon subcommittee hearing last year, Mercado alleged that Binay was given units in 60 to 70 percent of condominium buildings in Makati City, where he was mayor for two decades.
He said Binay has a 150-square meter unit in The Peak Condominium, which is named under Engineer Ariel Olivar, the surveyor of the so-called Hacienda Binay in Rosario, Batangas.
In his complaint, Binay argued that Olivar himself admitted that it was Mercado who asked him if his name can be used as the registered owner of the condominium unit.
“Nung panahon na magkasama pa sila ni Vice Mayor Mercado, sinabi ni Mercado na kung pwedeng gamitin ang pangalan ko para sa condo. Pumayag ako,” Olivar then told the subcommittee.
Binay noted that the unit under Olivar’s name is the same unit where Mercado’s former live-in partner, Racquel Ambrosio, was found dead in 2002.
Binay also said Mercado is one of the individuals trying to publicly malign his reputation in the hope of pressuring him to back out from the 2016 presidential race.
“The damaging and ruinous claims spewed out by respondent Mercado are mere concoctions and fabrications with no other purpose than to malign, discredit, ruing my reputation and besmirch my good name as well as that of my family,” Binay said.
The Vice President has earlier filed a libel complaint against Mercado over the Boy Scouts-Alphaland deal.
“The series of libel complaints filed by the Vice President shows his commitment to answer and refute the accusations against him in the proper forum in accordance with the rule of law,” Certeza said. (MNS)