(Eagle News) — The Sandiganbayan has denied former Makati Mayor Junjun Binay’s bid for the graft and falsification charges filed against him to be dismissed.
The Third Division junked Binay’s motion to quash the charges filed against him in connection with the bidding of Phases IV and V of the Makati City Hall Building II, citing “lack of merit.”
“The issue as to whether he indeed committed any of the acts mentioned in the said (information) are clearly matters of evidence which are to be properly threshed out during the trial of these criminal cases,” the division said, responding to Binay’s claim that the Ombudsman failed to say how exactly he committed the supposed crime.
The division added that Binay’s claim that the determination of conspiracy in a crime “must be proven beyond reasonable doubt” should be threshed out in a trial.
Binay and his other Makati officials have been accused of making it appear that invitations to bid for Phases IV and V of the Makati building were published in several media, as required by the law.
The Ombudsman noted that no invitation was actually published.
Without conducting a public bidding, the accused as a result awarded the P2.28-billlion project to Hilmarc’s Construction Corporation, the Ombudsman said.