Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — Vice President Jejomar Binay has not given up hope that President Benigno Aquino III would anoint him — not Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II — as presidential candidate in the 2016 elections.
Speaking at the Kapihan sa Manila Bay media forum on Wednesday (June 10), Binay pointed out that Aquino and Roxas were teamed up in the 2010, as Liberal Party standard bearers, but as election day loomed nearer, a Noy-Bi tandem materialized, and Aquino and he emerged as winners.
Answering what he called “deadly questions” from Philippine Star’s Marichu Villanueva, Binay said: “Alam mo, yan ang damdamin ng isang gustong mahalal sa isang halalan. Lahat ng dagdag-boto ay inaasahan. So nandoon pa rin ang aking paniwala na pagdating ng oras eh dadating ako sa yugto na kokonsiderahin ako.’
[Translation: “You know, that’s how it feels for someone who wants to win in an election. You hope for anything that would add to you votes. So I still believe that the time will come when I will be in that stage when I will be considered [for the presidential candidacy].”
Asked if he hadn’t noticed anything in Aquino’s words or body language that would hint that he was not being considered, Binay declined to answer, saying it would be mere speculation on his part that could get him at odds with the president.
Instead, he stressing his optimism, saying: “Umaasa pa rin ako, hanggang sa huling sandali, hanggang sa araw ng halala, na makokonsidera pa rin ako ng pangulo.”
[Translation: “I’m still hoping, up to the last minute, even up to election day, that the president would still consider me.”
The vice president held the media conference amid what he had been calling politically-motivated attacks on him and his family.
In particular, there was the series of hearings conducted by the Senate Blue Ribbon Subcommittee on alleged overpricing in the construction of the Makati City Hall Building II and the Pamantasan ng Makati.
Former Makati Vice Mayor Ernesto Mercado, a former political ally of his, accused him and his son, incumbent Mayor Jejomar Erwin Binay, having had a hand in anomalous transactions in the country’s premiere economic center.
The vice president’s ratings in survey conducted by Pulse Asia and by Social Weather Stations have continued to sag through the hearing. And yet, he retained the lead among those popularly considered as presidential timber.
As a result of those hearings, the Anti Money Laundering Council (AMLC) has frozen 242 bank accounts of people implicated in the allegedly anomalous transactions.
Binay stressed that, of those accounts, only five belonged to him and that the money in those accounts were hard-earned.
He said: “Yung mga accounts na yun, perang kinita ko yun, perang bunga ng aking pag-iipon, pera na bunga ng namana ko sa nanay ko.
Going back to the 2016 elections, Villanueva wondered whether Binay thought his expectations of being anointed by Aquino have been dampened with Sen. Grace Poe having recent meetings with the president, presumably on matters related to the elections.
“Ah hindi [Oh, no],” he said, repeating that he had high hopes of being considered.
But he added: “But in the matter of kung sino ang eendorsin niya, that is his prerogative.”
