MANILA - A Sandiganbayan division has denied the the motion of former Makati City Mayor Junjun Binay seeking the dismissal of his cases as a co-accused of his father, former Vice President Jejomar Binay, in connection with the allegedly anomalous construction of the Makati City Hall Parking Building.

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Binay Jr. is facing 2 counts of graft and one count of malversation for continuing the project started by his father for the years 2010 to 2013.

He is accused of conspiring with officials as well as with MANA Architecture and Interior Design, Co. for the irregular contract involving the architectural design and engineering services for the building.

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The Sandiganbayan 3rd Division noted that the information charging Binay Jr. with the crimes of malversation and graft sufficiently allege the constitutive elements of the crimes, such as his being a public official, his supposed action with manifest partiality resulting to undue injury to the government or any party.

“Since there is a proper allegation of conspiracy, accused Binay, Jr. cannot validly move to quash the subject Informations. In fact, by filing the subject motions to quash, he already hypothetically admitted the allegations therein including the allegation that he conspired with the accused local government officials in commtting the offenses charged,” the court said in a resolution penned by Presiding Justice and 3rd Division Chairperson Amparo Cabotaje-Tang, with the concurrence of Associate Justices Bernelito Fernandez and Zaldy Trespeses.

The court also said that trial must ensue as Binay Jr. insists on the pre-mature determination of conspiracy.

“To be sure, accused Binay, Jr.’s insistence that conspiracy must be proved as convincingly as the criminal act itself, is true only during the trial of the case and not as to the manner of alleging the same in the criminal Information. The determination of whether conspiracy indeed attended the commission of the complained acts is a matter that should be established during the trial of these criminal cases,” the court said.

With the denial of his motion, Binay is set to be arraigned on March, 2019.