OMBUDSMAN Conchita Carpio Morales ordered on Friday the filing of corruption charges against Vice President Jejomar Binay and his son former Makati City Mayor Junjun Binay, but the Binay camp dismissed the raps as part of the campaign tactics of the Liberal Party.
The elder Binay, who is running for president in the May election, was also indicted, but Morales said the charges will only be filed after his term in June 2016.
At least 22 other officials and employees were implicated in the charges after the Office of the Ombudsman dismissed all of the accused’s motions for reconsideration.
“We never expected any fairness and impartiality from the Ombudsman. So what else is new?” said Joey Salgado, the vice president’s spokesperson.
The Ombudsman said it has jurisdiction to conduct its preliminary investigation that led it to find probable cause to file criminal charges against the Binays and their co-respondents.
But Salgado insisted that the Ombudsman resolutions are plainly political tools against the vice president, saying it was the same accusations the Ombudsman released its resolution against the vice president on the day he filed his Certificate of Candidacy.
“Now it released another resolution on the motion for reconsideration just a few days before the start of the campaign period and after Vice President Binay regained his lead in the presidential surveys,” Salgado said.
“Simply put, the move of the Ombudsman fits into the orchestrated effort of Mar Roxas, the LP and its allies including Roxas’ mouthpieces masquerading as Palace spokesmen, to attack the vice president,” Salgado said.
“We have never expected fairness and impartiality from the Ombudsman. We look forward to disproving all their allegations in an impartial court,” he said.
ҬIn three separate joint orders, Morales affirmed the finding of probable cause against the older and Binay Jr. for four counts of violation of Section 3 (e) of Republic Act 3019, six counts of falsification of public documents and one count each for malversation for their involvement in the various phases of the construction of the carpark project.
Named co-respondents were Marjorie de Veyra, Pio Kenneth Dasal, Lorenza Amores, Virginia Hernandez, Line Dela Peña, Mario Badillo, Leonila Querijero, Raydes Pestaño, Nelia Barlis, Cecilio Lim III, Arnel Cadangan, Emerito Magat, Connie Consulta, Ulysses Orienza, Giovanni Condes, Manolito Uyaco, Norman Flores, Gerardo San Gabriel, Eleno Mendoza, Jr. and Rodel Nayve.
Also indicted were private individuals Orlando Mateo from Mana Architecture and Interior Design Co. and Efren Canlas of Hilmarc’s Construction Co.
Charges against the vice president will only be filed after the expiration of his term as vice president consistent with the principle that an impeachable officer, while in office, cannot be the subject of a criminal indictment in court, for an offense which carries the penalty of removal from office.
In its joint orders, Morales said the Ombudsman’s “authority to investigate Binay Sr. is in accordance with the Constitution, law and jurisprudence.”
Based on the orders, heads of offices are required “to exercise necessary diligence in making sure that proper formalities in a transaction are observed.”
The construction of the P2.2-billion Makati carpark project was completed in five phases, plus one design phase that spanned through the terms of Binay Sr. as then mayor up to the younger Binay.
The project was awarded to the Mana Architecture and Interior Design Co. without a public bidding.
According to the Ombudsman, there was manipulation in the procurement process to ensure the award of the contract to the developer.
Despite the incomplete submission of deliverables, such as design plans, working drawing and technical specifications, four payments of P11.97 million were processed and approved.
“The purported negotiation and evaluation of bid proposals in November 2007 was conducted with extraordinary speed” as “for one hour only, the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) completed the entire negotiation proceedings where bid proposals of seven architectural firms that allegedly participated in this multi-million project were opened and evaluated,” Morales said.
Even the Commission on Audit’s fraud audit office’s initial evaluation report noted “the negotiated procurement adopted by the BAC was improper.”
According to the Ombudsman, the city officials colluded with Hilmarc’s Construction Co. to manipulate the outcome of the five “public biddings” for the purpose of ensuring of awarded contracts.
Despite the lack of the mandatory publication of invitation to bid, Hilmarc’s Construction Co. was able to bag the project as the lone bidder for its four phases.
The Ombudsman said the car park construction began in the absence of approved design standards, contract plans, agency cost estimates, detailed engineering and programs of work.
In addition, there was no conduct of a pre-procurement conference, and bid documents were made available only for one day in violation of procurement rules and regulations.
Apart from the criminal indictment, the Ombudsman earlier upheld Binay Jr.’s dismissal from the service of and perpetual disqualification from public service.