MANILA – Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago said that it is time for Makati Mayor Junjun Binay to face the Blue Ribbon sub-committee, which ordered the mayor’s arrest on Monday afternoon for his continued contempt of the court.
Mayor Binay, along with five other Makati officials, has continued to disregard the ongoing Senate probe into anomalies in the governance and funds of the city of Makati.
Santiago likened Binay’s case to that of Arnault versus Nazareno, which she cited as a precedent to the case of the Makati mayor.
“In the case of Arnault v. Nazareno concerning the so-called Tambobong estate, wherein a resource person refused to answer a question posed to him at a Senate hearing and the Supreme Court upheld the penalty on that person until, in the words of the Supreme Court, he has purged himself of the contempt,” Santiago said.
“Until he has complied with whatever it is he failed to do that invoked the ire of the Senate body. Otherwise, no one will respect our hearings if we don’t have that punitive power. Since we are asking for the truth in order to help us get to the facts that will form the basis of the bills that we formulate, we should have punitive power over those who do not wish to cooperate,” the senator added, as she explained that penalty was reneged upon compliance with the Senate.
The decision to order the arrest of Mayor Binay was reached by the Blue Ribbon committee based on the advice