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After Binay denial, ex-Makati official shows photos of Batangas property
Former Makati Vice Mayor Ernesto Mercado on Wednesday presented before the Senate Blue Ribbon Subcommittee photographs and aerial video footage of a 350-hectare property in Rosario, Batangas that he said belongs to Vice President Jejomar Binay.
A spokesperson for Binay denied reports that the Vice President owns the Batangas property, which also came out in a daily newspaper, about an hour ahead of the Senate inquiry. The senators are looking into allegations of corruption in Makati during Binay's tenure there as mayor.
Mercado said the Batangas property, allegedly worth P1.2 billion, had a mansion with an English formal garden, a pool fit for a resort, a 40-car garage and staff house, a farm of imported orchids, an air-conditioned piggery, a cock farm, a man-made lagoon, and other amenities.
To illustrate the size of the property, Binay's former ally said the Batangas property was six times the size of the 58-hectare Luneta Park, 10 times the size of the Araneta Center in Cubao, and half of the entire city of San Juan
101-percent sure
He added that the improvements on the property were all done by Hilmarc’s Construction Corporation, the general contractor that also built Makati City Hall building II.
Mercado testified that the company was forced to pad the costs of the contracts it entered into with the Makati City government to cover for the amount Engineer Efren Canlas, Hilmarc’s chairman of the board, shelled out for the development of the property in Batangas.
“Lahat ng development dun si [Engrineer Canlas] ang gumawa. Kaya lahat ng ginagawa niya sa Makati ay overpriced dahil dyan,” Mercado said.
There was no immediate comment regarding the latest allegations from Hilmarc's officials, who had already denied in an earlier Senate hearing that they gave kickbacks or that there was overpricing in the construction of the Makati building.
Not the Vice President's
Earlier on Wednesday, a spokesperson for the Vice President denied that he owned a nine-hectare property in Rosario town.
Joey Salgado, Binay's media affairs chief, said in a press statement that the Vice President was expecting his critics to present before the Senate inquiry photos of the Batangas property. However, he made no mention of the 350-hectare property that Mercado would later show to the senators.
"The detractors will show photos, aerial photos, of the said property, an amateurish attempt to do a repeat of the 'Purisima' expose," Salgado said.
Controversy hounded PNP chief Director-General Alan Purisima last week after pictures of his house and landscaped property in San Leonardo, Nueva Ecija came out in the media. Purisima's critics described it as a mansion even as the PNP chief maintained it was an ordinary house.
Salgado said that based on corporate records, the lessor of the property was Sunchamp Real Estate Development Corporation, the operator of Sunchamp Agri-Tourism Park.
"The facilities and amenities mentioned by Mr. Mercado like the mansion, pool and garden are not owned by the Binays or JCB Farms. These were facilities and amenities constructed by the original owner, Mr. Laureano Gregorio, in the area where the farm is a lessee," Salgado said.
The Binay family has questioned the conduct of the Senate inquiry, saying some senators had "a personal agenda" in pursuing the investigation. — LBG/NB, GMA News
A spokesperson for Binay denied reports that the Vice President owns the Batangas property, which also came out in a daily newspaper, about an hour ahead of the Senate inquiry. The senators are looking into allegations of corruption in Makati during Binay's tenure there as mayor.
Mercado said the Batangas property, allegedly worth P1.2 billion, had a mansion with an English formal garden, a pool fit for a resort, a 40-car garage and staff house, a farm of imported orchids, an air-conditioned piggery, a cock farm, a man-made lagoon, and other amenities.
To illustrate the size of the property, Binay's former ally said the Batangas property was six times the size of the 58-hectare Luneta Park, 10 times the size of the Araneta Center in Cubao, and half of the entire city of San Juan
Mercado said maintenance of the property could reach P4 million a month, excluding the salaries of security and other personnel whom he said are all paid by the Makati city government.
101-percent sure
Senator Antonio Trillanes, who filed the resolution seeking an inquiry into the alleged overpricing in the P2.7-billion Makati City Hall Building II, asked Mercado if he was certain that the property belonged to the Vice President. Mercado replied that he was "101 percent sure" about his claim.
“Siguro ay hindi lang 100 beses (ako nakapunta dyan). 1992 pa ako pumunta dyan. Utusan po ako nun. Bata-bata po nila ako noong panahon na iyon,” said Mercado, a former Binay ally whose relationship with the Vice President turned sour after he was set aside in the mayoralty race in 2010.
Mercado told the Senate hearing that the land in Batangas was initially bought for only P10 per square meter.
He added that the improvements on the property were all done by Hilmarc’s Construction Corporation, the general contractor that also built Makati City Hall building II.
A slideshow on the alleged 350-hectare property of VP Jejomar Binay in Rosario, Batangas is presented by former Makati Vice Mayor Ernesto Mercado during the continuation of the Senate blue ribbon subcommittee probe on the allegedly overpriced Makati City Hall Building II on Wednesday, October 8. The Binay camp has denied the allegations.Benjie Castro
Mercado testified that the company was forced to pad the costs of the contracts it entered into with the Makati City government to cover for the amount Engineer Efren Canlas, Hilmarc’s chairman of the board, shelled out for the development of the property in Batangas.
“Lahat ng development dun si [Engrineer Canlas] ang gumawa. Kaya lahat ng ginagawa niya sa Makati ay overpriced dahil dyan,” Mercado said.
There was no immediate comment regarding the latest allegations from Hilmarc's officials, who had already denied in an earlier Senate hearing that they gave kickbacks or that there was overpricing in the construction of the Makati building.
Not the Vice President's
Earlier on Wednesday, a spokesperson for the Vice President denied that he owned a nine-hectare property in Rosario town.
Joey Salgado, Binay's media affairs chief, said in a press statement that the Vice President was expecting his critics to present before the Senate inquiry photos of the Batangas property. However, he made no mention of the 350-hectare property that Mercado would later show to the senators.
"The detractors will show photos, aerial photos, of the said property, an amateurish attempt to do a repeat of the 'Purisima' expose," Salgado said.
Controversy hounded PNP chief Director-General Alan Purisima last week after pictures of his house and landscaped property in San Leonardo, Nueva Ecija came out in the media. Purisima's critics described it as a mansion even as the PNP chief maintained it was an ordinary house.
Salgado said that based on corporate records, the lessor of the property was Sunchamp Real Estate Development Corporation, the operator of Sunchamp Agri-Tourism Park.
"The facilities and amenities mentioned by Mr. Mercado like the mansion, pool and garden are not owned by the Binays or JCB Farms. These were facilities and amenities constructed by the original owner, Mr. Laureano Gregorio, in the area where the farm is a lessee," Salgado said.
The Binay family has questioned the conduct of the Senate inquiry, saying some senators had "a personal agenda" in pursuing the investigation. — LBG/NB, GMA News
