MANILA — Five alleged dummies of Vice President Jejomar Binay were absent in the latest hearing of the Senate blue ribbon subcommittee.
The hearing was part of the months-long senate probe looking into the corruption allegations against Binay.
Senator Koko Pimentel said that the absence of Binay and his alleged dummies including Gerry Limlingan and Ebeng Baloloy; Dr. Jack Arroyo, nephew of Binay’s friend Senator Joker Arroyo; Laureano Gregorio; and Erlinda Chong symbolizes their guilt.
“Absence in hearings, by analogy, is like flights.
It’s like you are running, flying, going far. There is a doctrine in law that flight is an indication of guilt so let’s just stretch it—absence or refusal to attend despite repetitive invitations should already be an indication of guilt,” said Pimentel.
In a separate statement, Senator Antonio Trillanes IV said that Binay’s dummies are not attending the hearing because they know that they won’t “get away.
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“This is a pattern that we want to establish. These dummies are not facing (the Senate subcommittee) because they know they will not be able to get away. Laureano Gregorio, Gerry Limlingan, Ebeng Baloloy, Jack Arroyo and so on… They cannot get away with it here at the Senate because we are relentless,” he said.
Pimentel, meanwhile, added that the Senate will conduct four more hearings.
“There are still many unresolved issues because we have many uncooperative resource persons. Many are sick, many are abroad,” he told reporters.