Filing of Binay cases an act of defiance against SC ruling – legal luminaries

Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales defied a Supreme Court (SC) decision when she affirmed the filing of criminal cases against Vice President Jejomar C. Binay and his son, erstwhile Mayor Jejomar Erwin “Junjun” Binay Jr., on the alleged overpriced construction of the Makati City Hall Building II, three legal luminaries said yesterday. Former Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) national president Vicente Joyas said Ombudsman Morales should have taken judicial notice of the SC decision in November last year that ruled that the abandonment of the condonation doctrine was prospective and could not be applied to Junjun Binay’s case. “If the Ombudsman insists on not applying the condonation doctrine in the Junjun Binay case, the Ombudsman is acting in total disobedience of the ruling of the SC that the abandonment of the condonation doctrine must be applied prospectively,” Joyas said. The condonation is a doctrine laid down by the SC in [...]