VICE President Jejomar Binay’s trusted aide and alleged bagman Gerardo Limlingan says former Makati Vice Mayor Ernesto Mercado originally owned the two “dummy” corporations that won anomalous contracts with the Makati city government when Binay was still its mayor.
Limlingan made the revelation in his 88-page urgent motion filed with the Court of Appeals, which seeks to lift a freeze order on 170 bank and financial accounts supposedly under his name.
Limlingan, who broke his silence for the first time since being dragged into the alleged irregularities in Makati City government projects, said Mercado was the original owner of OMNI Security Investigation and General Services and Meriras Realty & Development Corp.
Mercado had claimed that Binay used dummies like OMNI to hide his assets. The former vice mayor claimed OMNI cornered most of the security and janitorial and maintenance services in Makati City.
“Contrary to the false accusations of Mercado, OMNI and MERIRAS were originally Mercado’s companies,” Limlingan said in his motion.
“It was Mercado who incorporated and managed the business and affairs [of] the foregoing companies until the year 2000, when he sold his shares to Respondent Limlingan as payment for the loan extended by the Respondent to him.”
Limlingan said when OMNI was incorporated in December 1999, its president was Mercado’s long-time friend and business partner Jose Orillaza.
William Co, meanwhile, was Orillaza’s nominee in OMNI. On the other hand, Remedios Zoriaga, Zenaida Yato, and Lucia Salvador had been the nominees of Mercado in the firm.
In September 2014 Orillaza claimed it was Binay who had sent Limlingan to work at OMNI, although both the names of the vice president and Limlingan never appeared in the firm’s incorporation papers.