(CNN Philippines) — The Senate’s continuing probe into alleged wrongdoings of Vice President Jejomar Binay and his family yielded yet another set of accusations. This time, an urban poor housing project in 2002 that allegedly went awry and resulted in millions of pesos lining the pockets of Binay.
Atty. Renato Bondal, a known critic of VP Binay told the Senate Blue Ribbon Subcommitte on Thursday (April 16) that the local government of Makati allegedly spent over P240 million to renovate three buildings in Guadalupe. These buildings were to serve as housing for informal settlers in the city.
“Sa aming pag-aaral, P47 million lang ang dapat na nagastos sa tatlong gusali na ‘yun. ‘Yan po ang overprice ng Friendship Suites,” Bondal said. “‘Yan po ay lagpas dun sa threshold price na 50 million, which will qualify this project as another plunder case of VP Binay.”
[Based on our estimates, the project should have only cost P47 million. That’s how much the Friendship Suites were overpriced. More than the P50 million requirement for a plunder case.]
But what upset Bondal more,he said, was the fact that none of the informal settlers were able to benefit from the housing project.
This developed because instead of turning the structure into a shelter for informal settlers as planned, the property was transformed into a hotel, according to Bondal.
The informal settlers, meanwhile, were relocated to Calauan, Laguna, among other relocation sites.
Binay’s camp admitted that the buildings were converted into a hotel for public use, but clarified that the informal settlers were relocated to San Jose del Monte, Bulacan and in Calauan, Laguna.
According to Bondal, Binay spent a billion pesos for the contstruction of the Makati Homeville in Calauan. Bondal claimed that the structure was overpriced by about P500 million.
Binay’s camp, on the other hand, remained unaffected, saying Bondal’s claims lacked evidence and were based on estimates.
“It’s come out as a dud. Hindi po ito ang inaasahan naming pangako niya sa publiko na meron daw siyang ilalantad na naman na mabibigat,” said Atty. JV Bautista, spokesperson of VP Binay.
[It’s come out as a dud. We were expecting him to make good on his promise that he will have a bombshell.]
Poor living conditions
But some of the former residents of Makati City who have been relocated to Calauan testified against Binay.
They complained about the poor living conditions they had to put up with upon their relocation. Some of them said that they had no electricity, no running water, and no livelihood.
“Ang masasabi ko po: ‘Yung pangako sa amin ni VP Binay ay pawang walang katotohanan lahat,” said Edison Rivera, one of the supposed beneficiaries of the Homeville housing project.
[All I can say is that VP Binay made empty promises.]
Aside from being receiving an amount for leaving Makati, Rivera also revealed that they were paid during elections.
Blame Mercado
But Binay’s camp pointed their fingers at the Homeville contractor, Twin Leaf Construction.
“That’s owned by Vice Mayor Mercado. They are the ones to be held responsible for elecricity connection and water supply,” said Bautista.
Meanwhile, senators agreed to conduct an ocular inspection of the site in Calauan, Laguna.
