PNOY WON’T ENDORSE BINAY IN 2016 Something striking took place at today’s regular Saturday Forum @ Anabel’s in Quezon City. Sen. Antonio “Sonny” Trillanes IV categorically said in this mornings media forum that President Benigno Aquino III was not inclined to endorse Vice President Jejomar Binay as his candidate in the 2016 presidential elections. Citing “inside information,” Trillanes said the President did not have to endorse Binay since it was something that would not occur. Trillanes did not say whose hands the President would raise in 2016. Neither did he describe the source of his inside information. When asked if Binay would be a clone of detained former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Trillanes said “the Vice President could be worse than GMA.” For sure, Binay would go slow on the people, who face plunder and graft charges, he said. Moreover, corruption is expected to return because he is perceived as corrupt. Trillanes said the Vice President has to undergo intense public scrutiny because he has announced his plans to run for president in 2016. “We have to see his real person,” he said. Trillanes said Binay was already projecting that the President was to endorse him, leading some lawmakers, local officials and judges to kowtow to his wishes. Other points Trillanes had said in the media forum: - Trillanes has filed a resolution calling for a Senate inquiry on the P2.7 billion parking building in Makati City because at least P2 billion was lost to corruption, when Binay was the mayor of the country’s premier center of business. Binay was accused of “pocketing” the P2 billion overprice, since it could onloy cause about P700 million, citing independent appraisers like Cuervo Appraisers. - The initial public hearing at the Senate revealed details not known to the public before and these included the payment of P2.4 billion by December 31, 2013 and the payment was not covered by any evaluation by the Commission on Audit. - The public hearing revealed the following details: the building was not a green building as claimed by Mayor Jun-jun Binay since this would require a certification and classification as “green,” the use of substandard materials in its construction, the technical incompetence of the COA resident auditor Cagaanan, the division of its construction into five phases, its construction by a single contractor, and the “railroaded bidding” process. - The presidential uncles have the right to choose the presidential candidate they would endorse in 2016, while the presidential sisters have corrected earlier press reports about their support for Binay, saying they have yet to endorse their preferred candidate. - The investigating Senate blue ribbon subcommittee has sent a subpoena asking for documents on the construction of Ospital ng Maynila, Makati City Science High School, and the Makati City hall for possible commission of corruption. - For the meantime, the Senate subcommittee was concentrating its probe on the Vice President’s reported acts of corruption, as it would later go to a careful look of his statement of assets, liabilities, and net worth (SALN). - The ongoing probe seeks to come out with remedial legislation on the government procurement system and processes, which have been the subject of corrupt activity and to observe how the local government units (LGUs) were being managed. - The ongoing probe could lead to the filing of plunder charges against the younger Binay and impeachment complaint against the Vice President, but it is up for the Office of the Ombudsman to freeze his assets. - The Anti-Money Laundering Act also needs a revisit too to prevent plunder suspects to withdraw their funds even before the order on the freezing of their assets comes out. - Anybody can criticize PNoy, which did not happen under the previous presidents and any critic did not have to fear any arrest or intimidation. - Most of his colleagues in the Senate could not believe that he had initiated the probe, even as he indicated that it took moral courage to lead in the probe of the Vice President because he was perceived to be a strong presidential candidate in 2016. - He expressed elation on the fact that COA chair Grace Tan has been initiating what he described as “housecleaning” at COA. He said many COA resident auditors were either coopted, intimidated, or harassed, prompting them to submit faulty audit reports that favored the subjects of their audits. - At least one or two percent of the purchase order goes to the COA resident auditor so long as the audit reports showed positive results for the audit subjects.
Posted on: Sat, 23 Aug 2014 05:56:37 +0000
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