The ongoing Senate investigation on Vice President Jejomar Binay and his mayor son, “JunJun,” for allegedly “benefitting” from the supposedly overpriced P2.3 billion car-park building in Makati is “worth keeping an eye on.”
It would also be interesting to find out if the current senate probe would dig deeper into how the Binays, particularly the vice president, acquired so much wealth during his stint as mayor of Makati for 19 years with a gross salary of only P36,000 a month.
Binay’s eldest daughter, Senator Nancy Binay, was also was implicated in another controversy for allegedly selling overpriced birthday cakes given by Makati city hall to its senior citizens before she was elected senator.
The current Senate probe conducted by the Blue Ribbon subcommittee headed by Senator Aquilino Pimentel is being carried out to determine the culpabilities of the Binays.
The alleged overpriced car park building was brought into light following the filing of a plunder case against the Vice President and his Mayor son by the Binay’s political opponents in Makati.
So far, VP Binay has not gone to the Senate to shed light on the controversy despite being assured by Senator Pimentel of a fair treatment should he appear. Pimentel even gave assurances to the elder Binay that he would stop the inquiry should the hearing turns out to be baseless.
Despite these assurances, Binay seemed hesitant to subject himself to an inquiry. Maybe for fear of being embarrassed by questions to be raised by senators in the course of the hearing. If I am the VP and I have nothing to hide, I will face my accusers. If Binay continues to procrastinate his decision to appear before senator probers, there will be a growing perception in the minds of the voting public that he is hiding something and guilty of receiving “kickbacks.”
Vice President Binay branded the on-going senate inquiry in the Makati car park building as a demolition job designed to malign him and his family. Binay vehemently denied that he or any member of his family, benefitted financially from the construction of the car park building.
In the case of Nancy Binay, she is accused of selling overpriced birthday cakes to Makati senior citizens. The cost of the birthday cakes are funded by the Makati city hall. A Makati-based lawyer named Renato Bondal, testified at the recent blue ribbon committee hearing that the cases came from the bake shop owned by The lady senator. Aside from his senator daughter and his mayor son, Binay also has another daughter who is the current congresswoman in the second district of Makati.
As for Mayor Jun Jun Binay, he recently appeared before the Senate Blue Ribbon subcommittee where he claimed that the Commissioned On Audit (Coa) has already cleared him and his father of any wrongdoings on the construction of the P2 billion car park building, although, top COA officials claimed otherwise during the hearing. They added their findings on the alleged overpriced building have not being finalized.
Political observers are saying that the current political imbroglio the vice president is facing will diminish his current political “stardom,” particularly in the coming opinion poll surveys for 2016 presidential candidates slated next week.
As of now, Binay is way ahead of his closest political foe for the 2016 presidential election based on latest opinion polls surveys. Of all the 2016 presidential wannabes, many are saying that only Binay and real estate magnate Manny Villar have the financial capability to run an effective campaign. Political observers are saying it will cost a candidate at least P6 billion to mount a successful presidential campaign.
People are saying that most of the wealth of Villar came from his successful real estate business. However, Binay’ s vast financial resources has remained unexplained. Where he got it and how he got it remains a mystery.
Binay has been subjected to numerous accusations of acquiring so much wealth in the past. However, up to this time, no one could come up with concrete evidence that Binay has allowed himself to be corrupted while serving as chief executive of Makati for a long time.