Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — The Lakas ng Bayan or Laban, the political party formed by President Benigno Aquino III’s late father, former senator Ninoy Aquino, will support Vice President Jejomar Binay in the 2016 presidential elections.
This was confirmed by Laban stalwart and former Tarlac Rep. Jose “Peping” Cojuangco, Jr. in an exclusive interview with CNN Philippines on Thursday (June 18).
In 1984, Laban formed a coalition with former senator Nene Pimentel’s Partido ng Demokratikong Pilipino (PDP) that paved the way to PDP-Laban.
Binay was also a member of PDP-Laban until early 2014, when he left the party due to internal problems.
Laban is now unilaterally supporting Binay, as PDP leader Koko Pimentel earlier announced that the vice president is not on the list of candidates they are considering.
Cojuangco, younger brother of the late president Corazon Aquino, said his party has no plans of supporting other candidates, including those who are in the presidential surveys, except Binay.
The decision of Laban to support Binay’s United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) also points toward a new rainbow coalition with the Lakas-CMD party of former president and Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Arroyo, the party’s chairman emeritus, had reportedly given an “indirect order” to Lakas-CMD members to support Binay in his trips around the Philippines.
Cojuangco, meanwhile, expressed confidence that Binay will emerge victorious in the 2016 polls despite being overtaken by Sen. Grace Poe in the latest Pulse Asia Survey.
He added that surveys can be manipulated, especially if the leading candidate has the backing of the ruling administration.
Related: Poe overtakes VP Binay in survey on 2016 presidential bets
Cojuangco, meanwhile, also casts doubts on Aquino’s promise of a clean 2016 elections, as there are still 8 million votes unaccounted for during the 2013 midterm polls.
“The final count is at 39 million votes. In the end it’s only 31. What else can you do if regardless of how many voted, eh, the results will be different?”
He likewise expressed opposition on the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines provider Smartmatic handling the automated polls, saying that manual elections is still a lot fairer.
Regardless of what will happen in May 2016, Cojuangco said the bailiwicks of founders and original members of Laban 1978 can still bring votes for Binay.
“They are not very vocal. They are not showing up, but they command a good size of votes in the country,” stressed Cojuangco.
