The Sandiganbayan Fourth Division yesterday acquitted former Makati City Mayor Elenita Binay and two others of graft charges filed against them in connection with the purchase of overpriced office furniture for city hall from December 1999 to February 2000.
The anti-graft court junked the graft case of Binay, Ernesto S. Aspillaga, former head of the city’s general services department, and Vivian Edna M. Edurise, corporate officer of contractor Office Gallery International Inc. because the prosecution failed to establish the elements of their charge in the purchase of P13.25-million worth of office furniture.
Of that amount, P3.6 million was reportedly overpriced, according to the complaint.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Binay’s daughter, incumbent Makati Mayor Abigail Binay, was charged with graft before the Ombudsman over her alleged failure to stop the proliferation of illegal online gambling in the city.
(Czarina Nicole O. Ong and Jun Ramirez)