Complainant admits guessing the P1,000 cake price

Senate of the Philippines. Wikipedia photo

MANILA – A complainant in the plunder case against Vice President Jejomar Binay admitted that the price of the birthday cakes given out to senior citizens was just guesswork.

“Iyon po’y hula lang namin (That is just our guess),” Renato Bondal said.

The statement was made during a senate hearing after Bondal was asked by Sen. Vicente Sotto III to explain the basis for the pricing of the cake.

Bondal earlier said that the cake was worth P1,000, an amount that is higher than the P570 and P590 cake price of similarly sized cakes from bakeshops like Goldilocks and Red Ribbon, respectively.

Saying that nobody in Makati actually knew the exact price of the cakes, Bondal sought Senate’s help to subpoena the vouchers and checks used for the cakes.

The alleged overpricing on the cakes came out after Bondal, a political rival of the Binays, earlier said in a senate hearing that the cakes handed put to senior citizens were overpriced.

Bondal also brought with him some cake samples during the hearing.

Meanwhile, Makati officials were asked on Tuesday to submit documents pertaining to the details of the cake-giving program. The officials were asked to include specific details including the price of the cakes and the actual number of senior citizens who received the gifts.