[av_one_full first min_height=” vertical_alignment=” space=” custom_margin=” margin=’0px’ padding=’0px’ border=” border_color=” radius=’0px’ background_color=” src=” background_position=’top left’ background_repeat=’no-repeat’ animation=”]
[av_heading heading=’Sandiganbayan denies Binay motion on Makati city hall case’ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=’30’ subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’18’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=” av-medium-font-size-title=” av-small-font-size-title=” av-mini-font-size-title=” av-medium-font-size=” av-small-font-size=” av-mini-font-size=” admin_preview_bg=”]
BY ADRIAN STEWART CO
[/av_heading]
[av_textblock size=” font_color=” color=” av-medium-font-size=” av-small-font-size=” av-mini-font-size=” admin_preview_bg=”]
February 9, 2018
[/av_textblock]
[av_textblock size=’18’ font_color=” color=” av-medium-font-size=” av-small-font-size=” av-mini-font-size=” admin_preview_bg=”]
MANILA – The Sandiganbayan has denied the motion of former vice president Jejomar Binay with regards to his graft, malversation and falsification of public documents case on the allegedly irregular construction of the Makati City Hall Building II.
In a decision released on Thursday, the anti-graft court’s third division junked Binay’s motion to quash or suspend all proceedings while his petition before the Supreme Court (SC) is pending. The arraignment will start on Feb. 23.
Based on the decision, the Sandiganbayan said is not obligated to wait for the SC to resolve Binay’s petition for certiorari, where he stated that the Office of the Ombudsman has no authority to investigate him while he was still the vice president.
“A mere filing of a petition for certiorari shall not interrupt the course of the principal case, unless a temporary restraining order or a writ of preliminary injunction has been issued by the higher court,” according to the Sandiganbayan.
“It is undeniable that matters raised by Binay in his motion to quash are evidentiary facts which need not be alleged in the subject informations…these are matters of defenses which are better ventilated and threshed out during the trial of these criminal cases,” it added.
The case stemmed from a complaint filed by Renato L. Bondal and Nicolas Enciso VI. They accused Binay et al. of violating the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act in relation to the Anti-Plunder Law.
Bondal and Enciso claimed the contract for the New Makati City Parking Building was supposed to have amounted to only P245.56 million but was overpriced by more than P1.314 billion. The final contract price was pegged at P1.56 billion.
The complaint said the respondents awarded the P11.9-million contract for the design and architectural services to MANA Architecture and Interior Design Company without public bidding.
It also said that payment for the contract was released to MANA even without the deliverables made. The first two phases of construction also proceeded without a detailed engineering plan, contrary to procurement rules, it added.
The complaint also stated that Hilmarc Construction, the contractor, was awarded with the contract despite irregularities and use of falsified documents.
The complaint further claimed that two losing bidders were listed in the contract but further findings revealed that one denied participation while the other was non-existent./PN
[/av_textblock]
[/av_one_full]
