Both rich and poor victims of VP greed, says Trillanes

"Ang pinapakita ng mga bagong alegasyon na ito ay lahat ng Pilipino ay pantay-pantay sa mata ni Vice President Binay at wala siyang diskriminasyon; mayaman o mahirap, nanakawan ka. (These new allegations show that in the eyes of Vice President Binay, all Filipinos are equal and he does not discriminate; whether you are rich or poor, he will not hesitate to steal from you.)"

This according to Sen. Antonio "Sonny" Trillanes IV in response to allegations made by land developer Delfin Lee, who--in a statement read by lawyer Willy Rivera--alleged that the Vice President, through finance officer Gerry Limlingan, attempted to extort 200 million pesos from Lee to spare the latter from the filing of charges in connection with allegations that Lee had defrauded the Pag-Ibig Fund (Home Development Mutual Fund) of 6.6 billion pesos through the double sale of units at Lee's Xevera subdivisions in Bacolor and Mabalacat in Pampanga beginning in 2008.

Aside from the extortion charges, Lee also revealed a second bombshell in his statement. The detained businessman also accused the Vice President, who heads the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC), of overcharging "by at least P5K each" all PAG-IBIG members availing of loans from the housing institution. If true, this would amount to a total of 5 billion pesos a year.

"The amounts being talked about in all these investigations into the Vice President are enormous," said Trillanes.

"What is worse, the victims here aren't millionaires; we are talking about ordinary, hardworking Filipinos who just want to own their own homes," lamented Trillanes, who stressed that the Senate investigations were establishing a disturbing trend in the different offices held by the Vice President, who has declared his intention to run for President in 2016.

"Makati City Hall; Boy Scouts; HUDCC; little by little, the details are coming out and those the VP has dealt with have found the courage to disclose what they know."

Trillanes added that "if all these allegations are proven to be true, this is graft on a grand, unforgivable scale. Walang pinapatawad si VP. Lahat ng pinapasukan niya, meron siya. (The VP does not spare anyone. Everywhere he goes, he gets a cut.)"

The senator expressed optimism that more individuals would come forward to share what they know "confident in the knowledge that the Senate is resolute in its desire to uncover the truth."