The camp of Vice President Jejomar Binay on Thursday criticized the Office of the Ombudsman for being biased and for disregarding the evidence they presented to the court, but expressed confidence that the graft cases filed against Binay will be dismissed.
“It is very well known by many that the Ombudsman is not fair to VP Binay. It ignored the evidence and due process for VP Binay, while it did nothing to pursue cases against allies of the current administration,” VP Binay’s political spokesperson Rico Quicho said.
“In a fair and impartial venue, we are confident that the so-called cases against the VP will be dismissed for being frivolous and baseless. We shall exert all legal remedies to prove the Ombudsman wrong,” he said in a statement.
Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales said that the charges against Binay would have to be filed in court after the end of his term, as the vice president is immune to suits while still in office.
“Because he is an impeachable officer and because of jurisprudence, even if he is alleged to have committed the offense or offenses when he was not yet impeachable, we have to defer the filing of the case until after he becomes a non-impeachable official,” Morales said.
Binay faces five plunder and graft complaints before the Ombudsman over the alleged anomalies involving the Makati Parking Building II, Makati Science High School Building, University of Makati, a Fort Bonifacio property, and over an allegedly anomalous land deal between the Alphaland and the Boy Scouts of the Philippines, where Binay is long-running president.