VICE President Jejomar Binay on Thursday filed separate libel cases against former Makati Vice Mayor Ernesto Mercado and Senator Antonio Trillanes in Makati in connection with their accusations against him.
The case against Mercado is in connection with a Boy Scouts transaction with Alphaland, while the case against Trillanes is in connection with Makati’s senior citizens program, Binay’s spokesman Joey Salgado said.
“The vice president believes in our criminal justice system and is abiding by the rule of law in order to prove that his accusers are liars and political opportunists,” Salgado said.
He made his statement even as suspended Makati Mayor Junjun Binay said Senator Antonio Trillanes may not invoke parliamentary immunity in the libel case he filed against him for accusing him of bribing the justices of the Court of Appeals in exchange for a temporary restraining order stopping his suspension by the Office of the Ombudsman.
Junjun Binay, who appeared at the Department of Justice on Thursday for the continuation of the preliminary investigation hearing where he submitted his reply-affidavit, said he decided to pursue the criminal charges against Trillanes since Trillanes had failed to prove his charges.
“That [the lack of witnesses or pieces of evidence] is the reason that we have to file this case,” Binay said.
“We are also waiting if he would be able to really present the supposed evidence, but there’s none. That’s why we are here. It is not right to make baseless accusations that cannot be supported by evidence.”
The suspended Makati City mayor expressed hope the Department of Justice would be fair in resolving his complaint as he had withdrawn his motion questioning the transfer of his case from the Makati City prosecutor’s office.
He said he would again run for mayor of Makati in next year’s elections.
Jejomar Binay said the latest corruption charges filed against him before the Ombudsman were recycled “lies.” which were part of the continuing demolition job against him by his political opponents.
Lawyer Renato Bondal had filed another plunder complaint against the vice President, and this time over the alleged illegal use of a public lot in Makati City. But Binay told a radio interview that the charges were dismissed by the Ombudsman and the Department of Environment and natural Resources 10 years ago.
Binay, the United Nationalist Alliance’s standard bearer in the 2016 presidential elections, has repeatedly denied wrongdoing and said the long-running Senate hearings over his case were meant to derail his bid for the presidency.
He said Bondal had partnered with Mercado to hatch dirty tricks against him and his family.
