Ex-Makati mayor Elenita Binay walks on P9.9M graft charge

FORMER Makati City mayor Elenita Binay and four of her co-defendants were acquitted by the Sandiganbayan Fourth Division yesterday in connection to the alleged anomalous procurement of hospital equipment totaling P9.9 million in 2000 and 2001.

However, two members of the city government’s Committee on Canvass – former supply officer Conrado Pamintuan and administrative officer Jaime delos Reyes – were found guilty of one count of graft in connection to the said transaction and were sentenced to imprisonment for six to eight years, with perpetual disqualification from public office.

Acquitted together with Binay were city treasurer Luz Yamane-Garcia, City General Services Department head Ernesto Aspillaga, Ospital ng Makati (OsMak) gynecology head Mabel Asunio, and OsMak property inspector Lilia Nonato.

Based on the information for graft and malversation of public funds filed by the Office of the Ombudsman in 2012, the city officials were accused of conspiring to award the purchase contract for hospital equipment to Apollo Medical Equipment and Supplies (AMES) without the required public bidding.

Prosecutors alleged the supplier was not registered with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a medical device and supplies distributor and submitted a fake license to operate to win the deal.

In its 46-page decision, the anti-graft court held that the totality of evidence established that only the Committee on Canvass members had “foreknowledge of the existence of an anomaly or irregularity surrounding the transaction.”

On the other hand, it found that the evidence was insufficient to establish the guilt of Binay and the rest of the accused.

“For failure of the prosecution to prove their guilt beyond reasonable doubt, accused Elenita S. Binay, Luz R. Yamane-Garcia, Ernesto A. Aspillaga, Mabel B. Asunio, and Lilia A. Nonato are hereby acquitted,” the court declared.

It held that former mayor Binay and Yamane-Garcia have the right to rely on documents showing that the deliveries were “inspected and found correct.”

“In the absence of any peculiar circumstance which should have aroused a sense of suspicion or curiosity on the part of accused Binay and Yamane-Garcia,