Vice President Jejomar Binay dismissed as mere allegations a supposed Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) report that he got billions from infrastructure projects in Makati City.
“This one’s for the books I tell you. For one year and a half we were investigated by the Senate, whose job is in aid of legislation,” he said during a sortie in La Union.
“Allegations are not evidence. Corruption is a criminal liability. The only time that you can be touted as corrupt is when you are convicted by the courts. It’s not when you are being accused,” Binay, the standard bearer of the United Nationalist Opposition (UNA), said.
UNA president Navotas Rep. Toby Tiangco said that the AMLC corrected twice its petition for asset protection filed in November last year before the Manila Regional Trial Court and admitted that Binay has one bank account containing P1.7 million and not billions as it earlier claimed.
The agency also asked the court to drop Agrifortuna and JC Binay Foundation from the petition.
Binay’s camp said this as an admission that there is no evidence to link these two entities to alleged illegal activities.
Tiangco blasted the AMLC for its inconsistencies and flip-flopping, which he said showcases clear abuse of authority.
“In the petition it filed with the RTC, the AMLC alleged, under oath, that all accounts mentioned contain illegal funds belonging to the Vice President. However, just as the hearings of the case were about to begin - where the AMLC will be required to prove its allegations - it began asking the court to drop or exclude numerous accounts of several respondents. The AMLC claimed these accounts do not contain any funds that can be forfeited by the State,” he said.
“For more than six months, these accounts have been subjected to a thorough examination by the AMLC. The account holders became objects of ridicule and character assassination. And now AMLC says they goofed? Ano, sorry na lang?” he added.
The UNA president also reiterated that Binay is ready to face all accusations in a court of law, but he would not let those resorting to criminal acts to malign him with impunity.
“This latest chapter in the well-funded and well-planned black propaganda plot against the Vice President is unprecedented in scale and viciousness. That their determination to convict him through publicity came at a crucial period in the campaign is condemnable,” Tiangco added.