Sandiganbayan OKs Binay’s Italian pilgrimage
By Czarina Nicole Ong
Both the Sandiganbayan Third and Fifth Divisions have given its go signal to former vice president Jejomar “Jojo” Binay Sr. to go on an Italian pilgrimage with his wife, former Makati mayor Dr. Elenita Binay, from September 28 to October 13, 2018.
(MANILA BULLETIN)
The Binays will join a pilgrimage to the Holy Shrines and go on a cultural tour of the museums during the said dates.
The Third Division allowed him to go, provided that he maintains his travel bond amounting to P752,000. On the other hand, he is required to maintain his travel bond of P384,000 with the Fifth Division.
“That he undertakes to abide faithfully with all his undertakings therein, such that any violation of the terms and conditions contained in this resolution shall be sufficient ground for this court to order the forfeiture of his travel bond, as well as to cause the issuance of a warrant of arrest,” the courts warned him.
The Binay couple will go to Rome from September 29 to October 5. From September 29 to October 1, they will be staying at the Cenacolo Santa Chiara then from October 1 to 5, they will be billeted at the Marriot Park Hotel.
The Binays will move to Assisi from October 5 to 6 and stay overnight at the Hotel Il Castello. They will then travel to Padova from October 6 to 7 and have another overnight stay at the Hotel Marconi.
Their pilgrimage will move to Venice on October 7 to 8, and they will stay at the Patronato Salesiano Leone XIII. The Binays will be in Turin from October 8 to 10, where they will stay at the Pacific Hotel Fortino.
From October 10 to 11, they will be in Florence at the Salesiani Firenze. Lastly, they will move from Florence to Orvieto from October 11 to 12 and stay at the Hotel Gialletti.
Binay Sr. was slapped with four graft and three falsification charges in relation to the reportedly anomalous procurement of several items for the P1.3-billion Makati Science High School building.
Both Binay Sr. and his son Jejomar Erwin Binay, who served as Makati mayors, were faulted for entering into a P17.37 million Architectural & Engineering (A&E) consultancy services contract with Infiniti Architectural Works for the design of the building back in September 2007.
They pushed through with the contract despite several irregularities in the selection of the consultancy services.
After the A&E portion of the project, the accused local officials were accused by the Ombudsman of having “rigged” the procurement processes for the building’s construction.
These are divided into six phases for the years 2008 to 2013, and it was Hilmarc’s Construction that won the total construction deal at P1.33 billion net cost.
Binay is also facing nine counts of falsification of public documents, one count of malversation, and four counts of graft before the Third Division in connection with the overpriced Makati City Hall Parking Building contracts, which the Binays, together with other Makati City officials, reportedly manipulated in favor of Hilmarc’s Construction Corporation and MANA Architecture and Interior Design Co.