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Will Binay also withdraw from 2016 presidential race?

November 11, 2014November 11, 2014 Ellen Leave a comment

No one is really surprised that Vice President Jejomar Binay backed out of the Nov. 27 debate with Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV which he himself suggested to the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster sa Pilipinas.

When the debate was starting to take a life of its own after he mentioned it to KBP President Herman Basbaño last October and Trillanes accepted the challenge, Binay was just waiting for an opportunity to back out.

The opportunity happened yesterday during his 72nd birthday celebration at the Philippine Marines headquarters.

He was asked about Trillanes’ statements that he was going into the much-publicized activity fully aware that the vice president, a lawyer, has an advantage as far as debating skills are concerned. But the senator, who was formerly a Philippine Navy officer said, he is on the side of truth.

Binay said, “Huwag na natin ituloy. Ayoko na kung ganyan sinasabi niya. (Let’s not push through with it. I don’t like if that’s what he is saying.)”

Binay explained: “Ang dahilan ko mga kababayan e dahil sa marami na akong naririnig na ako ay ganito…ako ay mahusay, ako ay naging debater, ako ay abogado, e sobra na ‘tong mga sinabi niyang ganyan na kumpirmadong sinabi niya, e ayaw ko naman hong maging..ang pagkakalilala niyo sa aking mga kababayan ay mapang-api, mapagsamantala…so tama na po ‘yun.(The reason why I am withdrawing is I have heard comments that I am an experienced debater, I’m a lawyer. He has also been saying things as if they were already confirmed. I don’t want to appear oppressive and opportunistic, so I am backing out.)”

But Binay’s spokesperson, Cavite governor Jonvic Remulla , was outrageously creative in his reason for his principal’s withdrawal from the debate: the Vice President realized it is a “disservice” to the survivors of Super Typhoon Yolanda.

Trillanes said his reaction is one of “ambivalence.”

“Actually, I’m, in a way, expecting this, so, I couldn’t be disappointed,” he said.

He added that Binay’s withdrawal from something that he himself started shows his untrustworthiness.“Kasi alam niyo, ever since hindi napanghahawakan ang salita ni Vice President Binay.(You know, ever since VP Binay has no word of honor).This will totally destroy his credibility. Hindi na talaga natin siya mapagkakatiwalaan(We really can’t trust him).”

Trillanes recalled the Nov. 29, 2007 Manila Peninsula siege, where Binay was part of the group that planned a civilian-military action to oust Gloria Arroyo, who was then embroiled in election cheating and corruption scandals.

Trillanes, who had won as senator while in detention for the July 2003 Oakwood mutiny against Arroyo, was scheduled to appear in a hearing at the Makati Regional Trial Court at the Makati City Hall that day.

The plan was for a mass rally in front of the statue of Sen. Benigno Aquino at the corner of Ayala Avenue and Paseo de Roxas. Binay promised to mobilize his constituents including city hall employees for the mass action.

As planned, Trillanes, his fellow Magdalo soldiers , and Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim walked out of the hearing only to find out that there were no people at the agreed venue. “Paglabas namin noong araw ng pag-aaklas, wala si VP Binay. Pinahamak niya ang buong grupo (When we walked out of the court, there was no Binay. He put us in trouble .”

Trillanes and his companions decided to go to Manila Peninsula where they made a stand against the Arroyo government. ““Buong araw walang dumating. At si VP Binay, ‘yong anino niya, hindi nakita sa Makati.”

Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim, flanked by Antonio Trillanes IV and former Vice President Teofisto Guingona, read the statement calling on the people to withdraw support fron Gloria Arroyo during the Manila Pen seige.

Binay was with former President Joseph Estrada in Quezon City that day. The military later rammed an armored tank into the Manila Pen lobby and lobbed tear gas forcing the rebel soldiers to surrender.

Trillanes said Binay later visited him at Camp Crame, where he was detained , and apologized.

Trillanes said the Manila Pen incident, the revelations in the Senate investigation and the manner Binay is facing them “ show lack of character, untrustworthiness of the Vice President, and the lack of any intention to face the people regarding the allegations brought up against him.”

He said the Senate investigation of Binay will continue.

What will be Binay’s next move? Back out of the 2016 presidential race?

Once again,Trillanes answers UNA’s allegations on ‘luxury’ cars

October 16, 2014October 16, 2014 Ellen Leave a comment

Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV

This is the second time I’ll be running the answer of Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV to allegations by the camp of Vice President Jejomar Binay that he owned eight luxury vehicles not listed in his Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net worth when he was a Philippine Navy officer.

JV Bautista, interim secretary general of the United Nationalist Alliance,lambasted Trillanes: “He styles himself as a moral crusader, but all these years he has evaded the issue of how he was able to afford eight luxury vehicles with his salary in the military and why he did not declare them in his SALN. This is a clear violation of the law.”

This black propaganda about Trillanes owning luxury vehicles first came out immediately after the July 2003 mutiny by a group of young officers that included Trillanes against the government of Gloria Arroyo. They made their stand at the then Oakwood Hotel (now Ascott) at the Makati Commercial Center.

Trillanes immediately denied the allegation and issued a long explanation detailing the ownership of each vehicle mentioned.

The same allegation was resurrected in in 2007 when he won as senator while on detention. Here’s the link to the article which carried his lengthy explanation. http://www.ellentordesillas.com/2007/07/04/protectiong-personal-dignity-and-honor/
This week, as the Senate Blue Ribbon subcommittee, with the active participation of Trillanes unearthed a lot of information damaging to Binay, UNA released the old lies on the senator’s vehicles.

Here’s Trillanes’ statement:

“This is a baseless and desperate move by VP Binay’s camp in order to divert attention from the corruption cases against him currently being investigated by the Senate Blue Ribbon Sub-Committee of which I am a member.

“ It is apparent that VP Binay’s camp is trying to revive an old issue, which has been already dismissed by the Office of the Ombudsman and the Makati Court. This matter was raised at the height of GMA administration, when the CIDG filed cases against us, including this issue, due to Magdalo’s corruption exposés against the said administration. The cases regarding the alleged vehicles were dismissed because the documents the CIDG submitted in support of its allegation were found to be spurious.

“ However, if only to set an example for VP Binay on how to respond to issues instead of evading them, allow me to state for the record the true facts regarding these recycled allegations:

1. The allegation of UNA that I owned eight (8) luxury vehicles enumerated in their press release is a blatant lie. In truth, what I owned was a second-hand 1996 Nissan Terrano, which could not considered a luxury vehicle. I sold said vehicle in 2007 to help finance my senatorial campaign.

2. I have never ever owned a Kawasaki motorbike. In fact, I have never driven and I do not know how to ride a motorbike, not even once in my life. My license restriction can easily prove this fact.

3. As for the Pajero with license plate RIZ-222, the true owner thereof, a certain Darlito Roca, operations officer of Lydia’s Lechon, has surfaced to claim and acknowledge his ownership thereof. An article published by the Philippine Star in August 2003, detailed the explanation of the said owner on this issue. (See: Lechon vendor owns SUV linked to mutineer by Jaime Laude, August 14, 2003)

4. With regard to the five (5) Delicas, the actual and beneficial owner thereof is my mother, a businesswoman who bought the same from the proceeds of a P2-million loan she obtained from a bank sometime in October 2000. Delicas were second-hand vans bought in Subic and are not luxury vehicles. In fact, they can be bought in lots for as low as P100,000 to P150,000 each. The intention was to operate a van rental service using these vehicles. These old vehicles, however, proved too costly to maintain. Hence, my mother opted to sell and dispose some of them.

“ The very idea that I would buy five (5) vehicles of the same model and make for my personal use is quite absurd and illogical. My mother’s van rental business was duly registered with the Department of Trade and Industry under her name and was properly stamped and licensed by the Caloocan City Hall.

“ This flimsy and dubious story shows the depths at which VP Binay’s camp is willing to go just to mislead the public and divert their attention from the issues at hand.

“ I trust that the people can discern properly which stories are real and fictitious.”

Once again,Trillanes answers UNA’s allegations on ‘luxury’ cars

October 16, 2014October 16, 2014 Ellen Leave a comment

Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV

Trillanes immediately denied the allegation and issued a long explanation detailing the ownership of each vehicle mentioned.

Here’s Trillanes’ statement:

“ However, if only to set an example for VP Binay on how to respond to issues instead of evading them, allow me to state for the record the true facts regarding these recycled allegations:

2. I have never ever owned a Kawasaki motorbike. In fact, I have never driven and I do not know how to ride a motorbike, not even once in my life. My license restriction can easily prove this fact.

“ This flimsy and dubious story shows the depths at which VP Binay’s camp is willing to go just to mislead the public and divert their attention from the issues at hand.

“ I trust that the people can discern properly which stories are real and fictitious.”

Binay can kiss his 2016 presidential bid goodbye

October 9, 2014October 9, 2014 Ellen Leave a comment

Aerial view of the 350 hectare Batangas Estate.

Vice President Jejomar Binay’s 350-hectare luxury estate is so stunning, stupefying and appalling he can kiss his 2016 presidential plans goodbye.

The images shown of Binay’s sprawling property in Batangas during the hearing of the Senate Blue Ribbon subcommittee assault many aspects of the ordinary citizens’ senses: sense of values, sense of propriety, sense of proportion.

To give the public an idea of how big 350 hectares is, former Makati Vice Mayor Ernesto Mercado said the Binay farm is equivalent to “six Luneta Parks, 10 Araneta Centers or even half the 700 hectare San Juan city.

Mercado, who was the Binay’s trusted bagman until their falling out before the 2010 elections, gave detailed description of the estate which boggles the mind of ordinary Filipinos: two mansions, one with a resort pool; two man-made lagoons, stockbreeding farm with more than a thousand cocks, a horse ranch, an aviary, and a 40-car garage.

Air-conditioned piggery.

It has a piggery which is air-conditioned, he said, because the Vice President’s wife, Dr. Elenita Binay, who had served also a mayor of Makati for one term (1998-2001), “did not want to smell the pigs and she did not want flies.”

Dr. Binay, who is an orchid lover, has a vast orchid farm which boasts of rare species from other countries.

But the pièce de résistance in the property, Mercado said, is a maze garden similar to the Kew Gardens in London.

Kew Gardens, Binay Version

Mercado said he was sent to London in 2007 upon the instruction of Mrs. Binay to see the Kew Gardens because she wanted one in their Batangas property.

Internet articles on the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew in West London said it is one of the world’s most important botanical gardens. The whole domain encompasses an impressive 132 hectares with about 50,000 different species of plants .Some areas are formally laid out with flower beds or themed gardens; a large part of the domain is laid out in English style.

Mansions and other luxurious properties by public officials are offensive to the people because they are concrete and graphic images of greed and abuse or betrayal of public trust.

Horse Ranch.

They may dismiss the overpricing of the P2.2 billion Makati Building2 and the alleged 13 percent cut of the Binays in all construction projects in Makati as “SOP” (Standard Operating Practice) in the government but if they see sprawling properties, mansions, man-made lakes and scenes that they see only in the movies, they are able to compare them with their own houses and lifestyle. The Binays’ Batangas property makes even the middle-class Filipinos’ houses look like a dog house.

Just imagine how one family cramped in a rented house in Pasay City feel looking at the Binays’ paradise.
In the 2000 exposé against then President Joseph Estrada, it was the photos of the Boracay mansion and other houses of Estrada that enraged the people more than the jueteng money and mis-use of tobacco tax .

Fighting cock farm.

Mercado said the money used in the construction and maintenance of the Batangas farm came from Makati City construction projects. It’s the money of the people of Makati.

Mercado’s odious personality is not enough to diminish the shock value of the information he gave during the Senate hearing.

He maybe a shady character himself but then “it takes a thief to catch a thief.”

40-car garage

Binay denies that he owns the Batangas property. It is reportedly owned by Sunchamp Agri-Tourism Park headed by Filipino-Chinese businessman Antonio Tiu.

Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, who is one of the three senators leading the investigation of Binay’s alleged ill-gotten wealth, accused Tiu of being Binay’s dummy.

At the Senate hearing, Trillanes presented the layered links of Sunchamp to the Binays: Tiu folded Sunchamp Real Estate Development Corp. in 2013 into a publicly listed corporation, the Greenergy Holdings Inc. The main shareholders of Greenergy are the Sunchamp Real Estate Development Corp., Earthright Holdings Inc., and the Three Star Capital.

Mansion with resort pool.

Martin C. Subido is director, corporate secretary and compliance officer of Greenergy. He is also law partner of Makati Representative Abigail Binay, one of the Vice President’s daughters at the Subido, Pagente, Certeza, Mendoza and Binay (SPCMB) law office.

Trillanes also said Earthright shares the same address as the SPCMB law office at the Value Point Executive Building 227 Salcedo Street in Legazpi Village, Makati City.

One interesting information that shows the ties that bind Tiu and the Binays: Tiu is also the CEO, president and chairman of AgriNurture Inc. (ANI), formerly known as Mabuhay 2000 Enterprises Inc., which was identified by Commission on Audit (COA) Commissioner Heidi Mendoza as the supplier of the overpriced hospital beds for the Ospital ng Makati (OsMak) back in 2001 and 2002 when Mrs. Binay was mayor.

Man-made lagoons.

Plunder charges have been filed against the Vice President and his son, Makati Mayor Jun-jun Binay in connection with the overpriced Makati Building2.

Violation of the anti-dummy law is also being prepared against him in connection with the Batangas estate.
An opposition personality said recently that by the time the investigation of Binay’s ill-gotten wealth is completed, “pupulutin siya sa kangkungan.”

The frontrunner in the 2016 presidential race is now deep in the kangkungan.

(All photos provided by former Makati Vice Mayor Ernesto Mercado to ABS-CBN.)

Puzzling numbers in Pulse Asia’s latest survey

October 1, 2014October 1, 2014 Ellen Leave a comment

Sept 2014 Pulse Asia survey.

At last, Interior Secretary Mar Roxas numbers moved up.

In a survey conducted by Pulse Asia, Roxas numbers almost doubled in a matter of two months. From seven percent last week of June, it jumped to 13 percent second week of September.

What could be the factors that contributed to respondents finally discovering Roxas after years of ignoring him when asked who they would vote if elections were held at the time the survey was conducted?

A quick scan of media headlines yielded only two issues where Roxas was featured in a prominent role: the announcement of the identification of police officers involved in the brazen EDSA daytime hulidap and his suggestion that President Aquino extends his stay in Malacañang beyond 2016.

Could that have gained for him enormous credit worth six percentage points jump in ratings?

It should be noted that on several occasions when President Aquino stressed the importance that his successor would be the one that would continue his “tuwid na daan” policy Roxas was beside him. Could Aquino’s popularity have rubbed off on him? But then Aquino’s satisfaction rating has been on the decline these past months.

Vice President Jejomar Binay and Interior Secretary Mar Roxas in a public meeting.

It’s possible that the increase of Roxas’s numbers was due to the demolition of Binay.

Since they were adversaries in the 2010 vice presidential elections and are expected to again be against each other in the 2016 presidential elections, Roxas is being presented as the opposite of Binay. The scenario being painted is frontrunner Binay is corrupt and Roxas is Mr. Clean.

Binay, as the survey showed, was clearly hurt by the expose on the alleged overpriced Makati City Hall Building 2 and other stories about institutionalized corruption when he was mayor and being continued by his son, Junjun.

A ten percentage point decline in Binay’s rating – from 41 percent last June down to 31 percent second week of September- is a huge drop. Binay should be worried considering that his opponents have said they are not through with him yet.

But I find the survey numbers puzzling.

Why did the rating of Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, who, together with Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, led the attack on Binay, also drop? From five per cent last June, Cayetano’s rating dipped to one.

Puzzling also is the decline in Sen. Grace Poe’s rating from 12 percent to 10 percent.Yet, the rating of former President Joseph Estrada increased by one percentage point -from nine to 10.

It’s still one year and eight months to the May 2016 elections. There are a lot of factors that will come into play.

But what is becoming clear is that the strategy of pulling down Binay to “level the playing field” is working in Roxas’s favor.