Junjun Binay does not want to appear at the Senate hearing —Remulla

Makati Mayor Jejomar Erwin "Junjun" Binay Jr. will not appear at the blue ribbon subcommittee hearing on Thursday despite his being at the premises of the Senate.

 

Cavite Governor Jonvic Remulla said Binay is not bodily required to be present at the hearing.

 

"He is not willing to attend. If they bodily bring him to the session hall that is another matter," he told reporters.

 

Binay is at the Office of the Senate Sergeant-at-Arms as of posting time.

The mayor was arrested Thursday morning by the Senate Sergeant-at-Arms after he was cited in contempt for snubbing the Senate hearings on the alleged overpriced construction of the Makati City Hall Building II.

 

Remulla said Binay rode his own vehicle in coming to the Senate.
 

He said Binay will respect the Senate order for him to be arrested.

 

Remulla added that Binay waived his right to undergo a medical examination and instead wanted to go directly to the Senate's detention center.

 

"He will be [in] detention as long as the Senate wants...," said Remulla.

 

Lawyer JV Bautista, United Nationalist Alliance interim secretary general, said they will be filing a writ of habeas corpus and certiorari.

 

Lawyers and former senators Rene Saguisag and Joker Arroyo will be part of Binay's legal team, Remulla said.

Vice President's spokesperson Joey Salgado, meanwhile, said Mayor Binay does not want to attend the hearing because they received information that he will be humiliated.

"Mayroon daw ilalabas na PowerPoint presentation na ipapakita yung mga SUV, bikes na palalabasin na sa kanya, e hindi naman. Nakikigamit lang siya, pinapahiram sa kanya, hindi ibig sabihin na sa kanya yun," Salgado told reporters.

He said those items have been a subject of a lifestyle check by the Ombudsman and cleared by the same some two years ago.

"Ang information namin ay ihu-humiliate nila si Mayor Junjun. The PowerPoint presentation will be [shown] by (former Makati Vice Mayor Ernesto) Mercado," he said.

He added that the writ of habeas corpus and certiorari will be filed before the Supreme Court later in the day. It will be signed by Makati Rep Abigail Binay, the mayor's sister.

As of posting time, Binay's camp, as well as Senators Aquilino Pimentel Jr. and Antonio Trillanes IV are negotiating on the mayor's apperance at the hearing.

Pimentel said there seemed to be a conflicting interpretation of the arrest order.

"Sabi ko hindi na pinaglalabanan yung mga wording nun, we look at the spirit of the arrest order. You are arrested to be brought to the hearing so that matapos na yung contempt issue. Yung contempt is a side issue," he said.

He added that Binay's camp cannot argue with the subcommittee as it's task is only to hold a hearing.

"If they are challenging something it should be argued at the mother committee, not at the subcommittee. The subcommittee is conducting a hearing, an investigation. Kung legal argument about an order issued by the mother committee, the argument is at the mother committee," he said.

He expects the issue to be resolved soon.

"Sana ma-resolve. We have three persons under detention. kung hindi ma-resolve 'yan, the inconvenience is with them," said Pimentel.

Aside from Binay, also being detained at the Senate were Makati City administrator Eleno Mendoza and former city administrator Marjorie De Veyra.

Pimentel said he has no plan of dragging Binay to the session hall.

"Walang ganung drama rito sa Senado. Klaro naman sa lahat na we are  just following processes so we are protecting institutional integrity. Kahit si Mayor alam niya yun. Hindi na kami aabot sa ganyang drama, there will be no drama. I'm confident we will be able to resolve this," he said.

On the filing of the writ of habeas corpus and certiorari, the senator said he understands the move of Binay's camp.

"As a lawyer naiintindihan ko yun, kung ako ang abugado nila yun din ang gagawin ko e," he said. — KG/LBG, GMA News