5/18/2015

53accountsin4banks|InquirerOpinion

GET REAL

53 accounts in 4 banks
Solita Collas-Monsod
@inquirerdotnet
Philippine Daily Inquirer
3:47 AM | Saturday, May 16th, 2015

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The Republic of the Philippines, represented by the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC), filed the ex
parte (in the interest of an interested outside party) petition for the issuance of a freeze order on 224
bank accounts and 18 investments and insurance policies owned by Vice President Jejomar Binay,
certain members of his immediate family, and close associates. This arose out of a letter, signed by the
Office of the Ombudsman on Nov. 18, 2014, requesting the AMLC secretariat to do so, plus what came
out of the Senate hearings.
The petition was filed on May 7 and the Court of Appeals order came out on May 11. Much too fast?
No, a petition of this nature should actually have been acted on within 24 hours, because accounts can
so easily be closed, or deposits withdrawn in the blink of an eye. The ponente was Justice Ricardo R.
Rosario, and the other members of the Court of Appeals First Division that issued the freeze order
were
Presiding Justice Andres B. Reyes Jr. and Justice Edwin Sorongon.
The freeze order is for six months, within which time charges have to be brought, or the freeze is
automatically lifted. As of now, the freeze order is based on the existence of probable cause that these
deposits are related to violations of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, and are unlawful activities
under the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2001.
Of those 224 accounts, how many were actually VP Binays? I counted 19, of which seven are jointly
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53accountsin4banks|InquirerOpinion

held with othersfive with his wife Elenita, and two with his finance man, Gerry Limlingan. These 19
accounts are in BDO Unibank (4, including the 2 with Limlingan), Land Bank (2), Metrobank (1), Security
Bank (4), BPI (5, held jointly with Elenita), PNB (2), and RCBC (1). His son, Mayor Junjun Binay, has eight
accounts in five different banks. Together, they account for 27 of the 224 accounts. Abigail Binay and
Nancy Binays accounts were not mentioned, simply because they were not named in either the Senate
hearings or the charges with the Ombudsman. So, whose are the 197 accounts that the AMLC wants
frozen?
As far as I can make out, 53 of those are in the name of Eduviges Duenas Baloloy (not including one in
her husbands name), held singly (29) or jointly (11) with Gerry Limlingan, the rest with Limlingans staff
or other persons whose names come out very often in the stories. So the question arises: Who is
Eduviges Duenas Baloloy? She is described as the long-time secretary of VP Binay, where she holds the
position of executive assistant 4, with an annual income, as of December 2013, of P697,658 (starting at
P266,948 in 2006).
The story gets more interesting. How come, with that kind of a salary, she has 53 accounts in four
different banks? Not only that, the deposits made in those accounts were humongous. The smallest
was P550,000 and the largest was P100,000,000 (that is not a typographical error). I am sorry I didnt
have time to get the average, and I will do so at some point. There is still more: the AMLC lists down
other large transactions in which she appears to have placed funds in investment management
accounts. The transactions listed by the AMLC take more than seven legal-size pages. And after the
Senate hearings started, both Baloloy and Limlingan started selling securities, making inter-account
transferssame bank, pre-terminating their time deposits, investment placements, encashments of
checks and withdrawing the bank deposits.
Does it not smell of a dummy situation? Ernesto Mercados testimony in the Senate hearings, about
giving several bayong of money to Baloloy from the 13-percent commission on Makati projects,
seems to have hit the nail right on the head.
If Baloloy had 53 of the 224 accounts, she pales in comparison with Limlingan. Either singly or jointly
with his staff, Limlingan
accounted for the rest of the accounts, except for those six held by Ernesto Mercado (the AMLC did not
spare him from their examinations), and for the 19 held by Chinese-sounding names like Tiu, and Lee
and Chong, allegedly other dummies as well. If my arithmetic is correct, Limlingans deposits numbered
about 120, with enormous amounts
being deposited and withdrawn. Considering that Limlingans avowed income (which is what he told
the banks) was about P30,000 a month, or P360,000 a yearless than Baloloys incomethe
magnitude of those
deposits fairly scream Dummy. No wonder he cannot be found.
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53accountsin4banks|InquirerOpinion

How many readers remember the Senate hearings on Alphaland, where Mario Oreta and Roberto
Ongpin were all holier than thou, saying that the Boy Scouts of the Philippines were not in the least bit
disadvantaged by the Binay decision to sell them the Makati property of the Boy Scouts? Again, it
seems that Mercados testimony may be the correct version. Because it turns out that 14 of the
Limlingan accounts were held jointly by a Mario Alejo Oreta. Why should Alphalands president (or vice
president) be involved in any Limlingan account? Again, there is that awful smell.
It seems that former vice mayor Mercado and his charges are being vindicated by the AMLC report. I
have only one question: If the Republic of the Philippines has filed a case against the Vice President of
the Philippines, shouldnt he at least resign from his Cabinet position? One only has to read the petition
of the AMLC, to realize that there is now hard evidence against him. He should stop making a
spectacle of himself, and answer the charges as best he can.

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25comments

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NongObieta

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TopCommenterManila,Philippines214followers

***OfcourseBinaywillneverresignfromthecabinet,ashispositiontheregiveshimsomeauthorityto
continuewithhisplanstoplunderthecountryuntilitwillhavebeenplundereddry.Instead,thequestion
reallyshouldbe"whyisPresidentAquinonotfiringBinayfromthecabinet?"Itisunbelievablethatallthis
timeAquinohasallowedBinaytoremaininthecabinet,withallthecharges,ANDthehardevidence,
supportingthosecharges.Makesonetrulywonder.
ReplyLike

12 FollowPostMay16at8:28am

FernandoLansangan

TopCommenterWorksatHallmarkCards

Yanang$100millionquestionnadapatitanongsaPresident,kungbakithangangayonay
ayawnyangalisinsiVPbinaysacabinet.Anokayaangrasonnya?Dahilkunginihintaylangni
PNoynamagresignsiVPbinay,yunangmalabongmangyari.........hehehe
ReplyLike

3 May16at10:18pm

SemperParatus

TopCommenter

BinayisaverycloseandloyalfriendtotheAquinofamily.ItwasCoryAquinowhoputBinay
asMakatiOICinthefirstplace.TumatanawlangngutangngloobsiPnoy.
ReplyLike
http://opinion.inquirer.net/84935/53accountsin4banks

2 Yesterdayat4:37pm
3/18