MANILA, Philippines – Cavite Governor Jonvic Remulla issued a statement today calling the Senate Blue Ribbon Subcommittee hearing a “farce”. According to Remulla, the senators conducting the hearing have already “prejudged” Vice President Jojo Binay.
Over the last few weeks multiple allegations have been linked to the VP, including the alleged ownership of 350 hectare farm priced at 1.2 Billion pesos dubbed the “Hacienda Binay”.
Today, a column at the Philippine Daily Inquirer has alleged that Binay is overstaying as president of the Boy Scouts of the Philippines (BSP).
Below is the full statement issued by the Office of the Vice President:
It is futile for Vice President Jejomar C. Binay to attend the “farcical” Senate Blue Ribbon Subcommittee hearing on the supposed overpricing of the Makati City Hall Building 2 as the senators conducting the hearing have already prejudged the Vice President, Cavite Governor Jonvic Remulla said Monday.
Remulla issued the statement in reaction to the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey indicating 79 percent of respondents want Binay to attend the Senate hearing.
“The Senate has prejudged Vice President Jojo Binay. Senator Trillanes has been brash about his prejudgment of the issue and blatant enough to say his objective is to bring down the survey ratings of the Vice President and even send the Vice President to jail,” Remulla said.
“Both he and Senator Cayetano accepted as gospel truth the unfounded claims of former Makati Vice Mayor Ernesto Mercado, and even moved that the latter be placed under the Witness Protection Program,” he added.
“And while they coddle Mercado, they lambast COA (Commission on Audit) auditors and other witnesses whose testimonies went against or even contradicted the senators’ well-rehearsed script,” he further said.
Remulla said Trillanes’ and Cayetano’s actions reinforce the stand of the Vice President’s camp that “the hearings are not in aid of legislation but in furtherance of political persecution.”
“There are other venues where the Vice President can address the baseless allegations and lies—venues where there is no other agenda except arriving at the truth. He is determined to bring the issues directly to the people, which he has been doing for the past weeks in visits to Mindanao, Zambales and Bataan,” Remulla added.