Journalist Raissa Robles has once again pointed out some inconsistencies in Vice President Jejomar Binay’s declarations concerning his properties.
Robles tackles this in her latest piece, “How was VP Binay able to buy three properties even as a young and poor law student?”
Robles asked: “How was VP Binay—orphaned as a boy—able to buy two properties at the age of 22 and a third property at the age of 23—while still studying law at the University of the Philippines College of Law?”
Robles noted: “Two Binay properties were apparently bought in cash for PHP14,145 in 1965 and 1966 prices. A third property worth PHP12,500 was acquired through a mortgage also in 1965.”
Robles indicated that “Binay disclosed these three properties and the year he purchased them in the SALN (Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth) he filed in 2012 as the country’s Vice-President.”
Robles then highlighted this fact: “In 1965, the minimum wage for private employees was PHP156 a month. A public secondary school principal earned PHP7,800 a year or PHP650 a month.”
Binay—who has claimed he grew up poor—graduated with an AB Political Science degree in 1962 or around the age of 20. He graduated from the University of the Philippines College of Law in 1967 at age 25. He claimed that he put himself through school.
Robles pointed out: “So, we can presume that between 1962 and 1967, he was a working law student. As he has said in interviews and as his profile on the Makati website once stated, VP Binay was at that time a college instructor at Philippine Women’s University, St. Scholastica’s College and Philippine College of Commerce. He also had a stint as a legal officer in the office of a Manila city councilor but I have not been able to ascertain if he did this before or after taking his bar exam.”
Binay’s various jobs, Robles says, establishes that he earned enough to put himself through law school.
Then, Robles asks the killer question: “Which is why I would like VP Binay to explain how—based on his 2012 SALN—he was able to buy…”
She enumerates the following:
1. A residential lot in Alabang Hills for PHP12,500 in 1964 around the age of 22.
2. A residential lot (thru mortgage) in Victoria Homes, Tunasan, San Pedro, Laguna, worth another PHP 12,500 also in 1964 around the age of 22.
3. Agricultural land for PHP1,645 in Liang Pilar, Marivieles, Bataan in 1965 around the age of 23.
Robles said: “These three acquisitions mean he had at least PHP 14,145 in cash to pay for two properties. On top of that, he had left-over money to pay off the mortgage on a PHP12,500 lot. Nowadays, PHP 14,145 in cash is not a lot of money.”
Robles also said: “Let’s be generous and assume that VP Binay got paid more than the private school teacher but less than the state school principal – that is, between P200 and P650 a month – or around P425 a month. This would translate to P5,100 a year, before tax and before deducting all expenses including food and transport. At this salary rate, he would have still needed nearly nearly three years to earn P14,145 in cash to pay for the two lots he had bought in 1964 and 1965. Unless, of course, he had sold some inherited land and then used the cash to buy the two properties.”
Still, Robles came to this conclusion: “However, please note that Binay bought his first property only two years after graduating from AB Political Science. In short, the numbers do not seem to add up.”
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