Former Makati City Mayor Elenita Binay has urged the Sandiganbayan鈥檚 Third Division to dismiss the graft and malversation cases filed against her in connection with the anomalous purchase of P45.26 million worth of beds and sterilizers for the city-run Ospital ng Makati (OsMak).
Binay argued that the trial should be cut short, since the Ombudsman鈥檚 evidence would be 鈥渢otally insufficient鈥� to convict her.
But the Ombudsman鈥檚 Office of the Special Prosecutor objected to Binay鈥檚 motion, saying that the court had already admitted the documents she was contesting so these could be used as evidence against her.
The prosecution said Binay鈥檚 鈥渟eemingly innocent act鈥� of signing the contracts with Apollo Medical Equipment and Supplies was a 鈥渘ecessary step 鈥� to give unwarranted benefit and advantage to [the supplier].鈥�
Acts of subordinates
It added that Binay could not 鈥渢houghtlessly rely on the acts of her subordinates,鈥� since it was her duty as elected official to ensure that public funds were spent on lawful and regular transactions.
Prosecutors had questioned the lack of bidding in the city鈥檚 2001 deals with Apollo, claiming that its status as exclusive distributor was 鈥渓ater determined to be spurious.鈥�
Binay said the prosecution鈥檚 鈥渟weeping conclusion 鈥� was not validated鈥� and that it had failed to submit an original copy of the special audit report on the city government鈥檚 projects in 2000 and 2001, which contained the findings on the OsMak contracts.
Negotiated contracts
The former mayor said the documents that served as basis for the state auditors鈥� findings were not presented during the trial and that the prosecution failed to establish that she had conspired with her coaccused to unlawfully award the negotiated contracts to Apollo.
Binay said there was no proof that she was aware that the procurement documents were spurious.
Aside from being charged over the OsMak deals, Binay also faces a graft case before the court鈥檚 Fifth Division in connection with the allegedly rigged bidding in the P72.06-million contract to supply furniture to the Makati city hall in 1999.