spot_img
27.8 C
Philippines
Friday, March 29, 2024

Senator arraigned in Binay libel suit

- Advertisement -

SENATOR Antonio Trillanes IV on Tuesday entered a not guilty plea in connection with the libel case filed against him by former Makati City mayor Jejomar Erwin Binay Jr. over the alleged overpriced City Hall parking lot building last year.

During the court proceedings, Binay’s lawyer Dan Subido said the presiding judge of Regional Trial Court branch 142 asked both parties if they were willing to discuss the possibility of an amicable settlement of the case.

Subido said Trillanes expressed his intention to seek an amicable settlement but Binay responded to the contrary, thus closing the door to any negotiations for the amicable settlement of the case.

“Despite the previous attempts of Senator Trillanes to delay the proceedings, he was finally arraigned today for maliciously maligning the reputation of the Binays. We look forward to convicting him. Let this be a lesson to him so that he will no longer use his position in bullying and destroying the reputation of people,” said Subido.

On Feb. 9, Trillanes posted P10,000 bail, a week after Makati City Branch 142 Judge Dina Pestaño Teves issued an arrest warrant in connection with the libel case that arose from Trillanes’ statements that Mayor Binay and his family bribed justices of the Court of Appeals for the issuance of the temporary restraining order against the preventive suspension order issued by the Office of the Ombudsman last year.

- Advertisement -

Before he posted bail, Trillanes filed a motion asking the court to suspend the hearings and other court proceedings but Judge Teves rejected the plea.

Trillanes posted his bail for his temporary liberty following his official visit in the United States, where he said, he was invited by members of the US Congress.

Judge Teves issued the warrant of arrest against Trillanes on Feb. 5 after finding probable cause in the libel case.

Trillanes had said he will continue his personal crusade to expose the truth about the massive anomalies in Makati despite the filing of the libel charge against him.

“If the Binay family believes that I can be intimidated and threatened from exposing them, they are badly mistaken. I will do everything I can to make sure that plunderers will not rule this country again,” said Trillanes when he posted bail last February.

Trillanes had accused two Court of Appeals justices of receiving P50 million to stop the Office of the Ombudsman from carrying out its suspension of the mayor over corruption charges last year.

He alleged that Binay bribed members of the appellate court’s 6th Division in exchange for favorable action on his petition for a temporary restraining order and a Writ of Preliminary Injunction against the suspension order.

The senator also accused Binay and his family as “part of a syndicate” that has committed various crimes and irregularities.

“The damaging and ruinous claims spewed out by respondent Trillanes are mere concoctions and fabrications with no other purpose than to malign, discredit, ruin my reputation and besmirch my good name as well as that of my family,” said Binay in his six-page libel complaint filed with the Makati City Prosecutors Office.

He added Trillanes’ allegations “have no factual basis and were not made in response to duty, but only with obvious intention to injure my reputation as well as those of my family.”

Binay said the acts of Trillanes in connection with the defamatory statements made against him constitute a violation of Article 355 in relation to Article 353 of the Revised Penal Code.

The Court of Appeals 6th Division denied Trillanes’ allegations and warned the senator against making baseless accusations that were tantamount to harassment.

The former mayor’s father, former Vice President Jejomar Binay, also lambasted Trillanes for making false and malicious allegations.

Quoting unnamed sources, Trillanes said lawyer Arthur Villaraza facilitated the bribe, with Appeals Court Justices Jose Reyes Jr. and Francisco Acosta receiving an initial P20 million each for issuing a TRO against the Office of the Ombudsman.

He added when the Office of the Ombudsman and the Department of Interior and Local Government did not heed the TRO, Reyes and Acosta were given P5 million each to issue a writ of preliminary injunction.

Villaraza also denied his involvement and challenged the senator to show proof to support his allegations.   

The writ of preliminary injunction prevented the Ombudsman, the DILG and their agents from enforcing the March 10, 2015 six-month preventive suspension of Mayor Binay.

The Ombudsman came up with the suspension order against Binay and other city government officials in connection with the alleged overpriced Makati City Hall Building II, which was the subject of a Senate investigation.

Acosta was among the two other members of the 6th Division who concurred with Reyes’ decision. The other member was Justice Eduardo Peralta Jr.

The controversy on the alleged overpriced building started when a number of Makati officials, including Binay, were asked to attend the Senate hearing to shed lights on the anomaly.

The irregularities includes the city government’s failure to conduct public bidding when it awarded the P11.9-million contract for the design and architectural services to MANA Architecture, and the lack of detailed engineering plan for the project.

The construction of Makati City Hall Building II started in 2007 while the elder Binay was city mayor. It continued until 2013 under mayor Junjun.

- Advertisement -

LATEST NEWS

Popular Articles