(CNN Philippines) — Vice President Jejomar lashed back at the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) on Thursday (May 14), using words and descriptions that pertain to a liar.
This developed after the Philippine Daily Inquirer ran a story on Wednesday (May 13) about a copy of the AMLC report that resulted in a freeze order of Binay and his family’s bank accounts, among others.
‘Wrong, false, misleading’
In a media statement, the first adjectives Binay used to describe the AMLC document were “wrong” and misleading.
Binay said the Council “misled” the Court of Appeals (CA) — which issued a freeze order on his and his family’s bank accounts — by falsely claiming he had no other source of income other than his government salary.
“Only five accounts included in the freeze order are under my name. And all the funds in these five accounts were acquired legally. They are not hidden wealth. AMLC is really wrong,” Binay said.
‘Not true’
The vice president also “belied” claims of the report saying his only source of income was his government salary.
“This is not true,” Binay said, adding he had income and savings even before he joined the government.
“We also have businesses that are already decades old. We pay taxes. Even legal campaign contributions, which have been reported to the Comelec, were described as ill-gotten by AMLC,” he said.
“AMLC is definitely wrong.”
Binay also cried foul over the release of report to the Inquirer, stressing that it was one-sided and did not yet include his answers to the findings.
The freeze order petition was granted by the CA ex parte, meaning the ruling was solely based on the representations of the AMLC.
‘Fiction writers and fortune tellers’
In closing, Binay remarked that the AMLC has fallen victim to those who fabricate stories.
“You have fiction writers and manghuhulas not only in the Senate. You can find them in the Anti-Money Laundering Council,” he said.
The AMLC petition stemmed from complaints filed by Nicolas Enciso VI and Atty. Renato Bondal at the Office of the Ombudsman in connection with the alleged irregularities in the construction of the Makati City Hall Building II and Makati Science High School.
