Ombudsman probers push graft rap vs Binays over Makati bldg

Vice President, Makati Mayor, 22 others to undergo preliminary investigation

MANILA (1st UPDATE) - Special investigators of the Office of the Ombudsman have recommended that Vice-President Jejomar Binay, his son, Makati Mayor Jejomar Erwin Binay, and 22 others undergo preliminary investigation in connection with irregularities in the construction of the P2.2 billion Makati City Hall Parking Building.

In a statement, the Office of the Ombudsman-Special Panel of Investigators said the two Binays and 22 others should undergo preliminary investigation for malversation, falsification, violations of Section 3(e) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, and violation of the Government Procurement Reform Act, "in connection with several alleged irregularities in the procurement and award of the contracts for the design/architectural services and the construction of the Makati City Hall Parking Building."

Atty. Rico Quicho, the vice-president's spokesman for police affairs, said any charge of impropriety against the Vice President regarding the Makati City Hall Building 2 "is clearly frivolous and has no basis in fact and in law."

"We are optimistic that the complaint will be ultimately dismissed by a fair and impartial tribunal. This is again a glimpse of how desperate the critics of the Vice President have become in order to fuel their own personal interests. Politics has indeed really turned to its worst form," he said in a statement.

The building, which is called the Makati City Hall Building 2, has been the subject of a Senate Blue Ribbon subcommittee inquiry conducted by Senators Antonio Trillanes, Alan Peter Cayetano and Koko Pimentel.

WHAT WENT BEFORE

In their recommendatioin, investigators said the public respondents awarded the P11,974,900.00 contract for the design/architectural services of the Makati City Hall Building 2 to MANA Architecture & Interior Design Company (MANA) without public bidding, and that periodic payments were released to MANA without its corresponding deliverables under the contract.

They said the bidding and the construction for Phases I and II (out of five phases) of the carpark building proceeded without a detailed engineering plan from MANA, contrary to procurement laws and regulations.

Also included in the recommendation for preliminary investigation are former City Administrator Marjorie De Veyra, City Legal Officer Pio Kenneth Dasal, City Budget Officer Lorenza Amores, former Central Planning Management Office (CPMO) Chief Virginia Hernandez, former City Engineer Mario Badillo, former City Accountant Leonila Querijero, former Acting City Accountant Raydes Pestao, City Accountant Cecilio Lim III, Acting City Accountant Eleno Mendoza, City Treasurer Nelia Barlis, CPMO Engineers Arnel Cadangan, Emerito Magat and Connie Consulta, CPMO Chief Line Dela Pea, Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) Secretariat Heads Giovanni Condes and Manolito Uyaco, Technical Working Group (TWG) Chairman Rodel Nayve, BAC member Ulysses Orienza, General Services Department (GSD) OIC Gerardo San Gabriel, GSD staff member Norman Flores, as well as private respondents Orlando Mateo of MANA Architecture & Interior Design Company (MANA) and Efren Canlas of Hilmarcs Construction Corporation (Hilmarc).

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Ombudsman probers push graft rap vs Binays over Makati bldg