Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) – Vice President Jejomar Binay expressed confidence that he can win against administration bet Manuel “Mar” Roxas II by a wider margin in the 2016 elections, as compared to the 2010 elections.
Binay and Roxas first faced off in the 2010 elections, where Binay won the vice presidency by a slim margin of 700,000 votes.
Now that they are both gunning for the presidency, Binay said in an interview on Tuesday (September 22) that he is confident that he will win by a wider margin – especially with the performance of his daughter, Sen. Nancy Binay in the 2013 elections.
The lady senator placed 5th and got a total of more than 16 million votes.
For Binay, the recent survey by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) shows that he is being portrayed as an underdog. But the vice president said the situation is not new to him.
Related: Poe still leads poll, Roxas overtakes Binay – SWS
“Ideal ang underdog, at least ‘di ka over confident. You are being challenged. Katulad sa 2010, biro mo noon ang laki ng lamang noon. Pero at the end nanalo pa rin ako,” Binay said.
[Translation: Underdog is ideal. At least you’re not over confident. You are being challenged. Like in 2010, there was a huge difference in ratings. But at the end, I still won.]
Binay adds his frequent town visits and talks with his supporters in the past years would help increase his number of votes.
Binay considers Honasan to be his running mate
The vice president believes that Sen. Gregorio Honasan II would say yes to be his running mate when the situation calls for it.
“Una magkasama kami sa partido. Pangalawa, merong qualification. So ang leadership nun ‘di mawawala,” Binay told the media.
Binay admitted, he told Honasan several times that the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) is considering the senator as one of the party’s options to be Binay’s vice presidential running mate in 2016.
“Ang pinag-uusapan namin ay kinonsider ba. Si Honasan kasama sa priorities,” said Binay.
UNA is currently in talks with a male veteran politician to be Binay’s running mate, but the vice president refused to name who this is.
Binay said the discussion is in its final stages. However, in the event that the plan doesn’t push through, UNA will then consider their second option – Honasan.
And if Honasan still does not agree, he will not run out of options.
Like Roxas, Binay is pressed to name his vice presidential running mate. Independent presidential candidate Sen. Grace Poe already announced that she will run with Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero as her vice president on 2016.
Related: Escudero declares bid for vice presidency, teams up with Poe
“Basta madami ang priorities. Ang tinatrabaho ay yung one. Kapag di natuloy sa one, eh di sa two. Pag di pa rin, eh di sa three,” Binay said.
Honasan on the other hand reiterates that he is interested to finish his term as a senator up until 2019, and is only interested to “play with his grand children” when the day comes.
Honasan added that he will support Binay in his presidential bid as a member of the opposition.
Binay’s legal opinion on Poe’s disqualification case
The vice president said the disqualification case against Poe is a question of fact and law – not of intent.
“Kasi normally ang liability ay merong intent. Dito ang intent hindi issue. Dito kung ano ang facts, dun gagawa ng decision,” Binay told reporters.
In the case pending before the Senate Electoral Tribunal (SET), Binay said it does not matter what Poe’s intent is or what her emotions are.
“Bago ka magkandidato kailangang qualified ka. May batas yan. Ito ang mga kailangan, natural born ka ba o hindi? Nagqualify ka ba o hindi? Yun ang issue dito. Hindi naman technicality ito, question of fact ‘to,” said Binay.
He explained, what matters is if the senator is qualified to run based on the law.
“Alam mo hindi naman ito issue ng technicality. Ito ay may batas. Merong qualifications so yun ang issue. Qualified ba o disqualified?”
Consequently, Binay said he agrees that the DNA test will be a valid evidence to prove whether Poe is a natural-born citizen or not.
Related: Justice Carpio: Poe a naturalized Filipino citizen, not natural born
Binay was a practicing human rights lawyer before he entered politics.
CNN Philippines’ Joyce Ilas contributed to this report.
