The Office of the Ombudsman denied Jejomar Binay the right to answer all allegations against him in connection with the P1.3-billion Science High School building project in Makati City, the camp of the former vice president said on Friday.
Binay’s spokesperson Joey Salgado claimed that the Ombudsman failed to ask the former vice president for his side on the case, disregarding due process and violating his Constitutional rights.
Salgado said they will make an appeal for reinvestigation of the case.
Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales ordered the filing of multiple counts of graft and falsification charges against Binay and his son former Makati City mayor Jejomar Erwin Binay Jr. for allegedly conspiring to rig the procurement processes of the school building located along Kalayaan Avenue in Makati City.
The Makati Science Building project for a 10-story building with a four-story dormitory was completed merely as a 10-story building, the Ombudsman said.
“In her haste to indict [the former vice president], the Ombudsman committed the unforgivable act of denying him his right to answer the allegations against him,” said Salgado.
He pointed out that the Ombudsman conducted a preliminary investigation against former Binay during his term as vice president despite a Constitutional prohibition. He noted that even after the vice president’s term expired in July 2016, the said agency did not bother to get his official reply to the allegations.
This shows “hypocrisy” on the part of the Ombudsman, who had earlier called for respect for human rights and due process for victims of alleged extrajudicial killings, Salgado said.
“The Ombudsman cannot claim to speak for rights and due process when she herself observes them selectively,” he added.
Salgado said the “hasty indictment” also shows that the Ombudsman is still bent on persecuting the former vice president and his family, which began during the previous administration.
“This only proves our point: That even after the Liberal Party has ended its reign, the Ombudsman continues to pursue the game plan against VP Binay contained in the yellow playbook,” he added.
Salgado also stressed that the resolutions issued by the Ombudsman on Thursday did not find any evidence of alleged overpricing in the construction of the Science High School.
“The indictments merely found alleged violations in the bidding process. These allegations, however, have been answered extensively by former mayor Junjun Binay but the Ombudsman chose to disregard them,” he stressed.
In two separate Resolutions approved last Tuesday (Aug. 1), Morales indicted Binay, Sr. with four counts of violation of Section 3(e) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act (Republic Act 3019) and three counts of falsification of public documents.
Binay Jr. is also set to face four counts of violation of Section 3(e) of RA 3019 and three counts of falsification.
Also indicted were Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) Chairpersons Marjorie De Veyra and Eleno Mendoza, Jr.; BAC members Pio Kenneth Dasal, Lorenza Amores, Ulysess Orienza, Gerardo San Gabriel and Mario Badillo; BAC Secretariat members Giovanni Condes, Manolito Uyaco, Norman Flores and Ralph Liberato; Rodel Nayve of the BAC Technical Working Group; city accountants Leonila Querijero, Cecilio Lim III and Raydes Pestaño; and city cashier Nelia Barlis.
Criminal charges were also slapped against contractors Virginia Garcia of Infiniti Architectural Works, together with Efren Canlas and Julius Ramos of Hilmarc’s Construction Corp.
Ombudsman records showed that on Sept. 26, 2007, then mayor Binay Sr. entered into a P17.37 million Architectural & Engineering (A & E) consultancy services contract with Infiniti for the design of the Makati Science Building.
The Ombudsman however said several irregularities were noted in the procurement of the A&E consultancy services such as the unjustified resort to negotiated procurement instead of competitive bidding, non-compliance with the required posting of the invitation to bid, and several misrepresentations regarding the alleged bid negotiations, submission and opening of bids.
The Ombudsman observed that the project “did not provide for a timeline or period within which the contractor must complete its services.”
Respondents claimed that seven companies were invited to submit proposals during a negotiation conference on Sept. 18, 2007. The meeting with the bidders lasted only for an hour following which the BAC decided to recommend the award to Infiniti. The next day, Binay Sr. awarded the contract for the A & E services to Infiniti.
The Ombudsman stated that witnesses from two of the architectural firms which allegedly participated in the negotiation conference, however, executed affidavits denying that they joined the bid negotiations and submitted proposals for the project.