Cebu City (CNN Philippines) — Full of conviction, Vice President Jejomar Binay shouted “Bingo!” But has Binay finally really hit the jackpot?
Huge tarpaulins of the “Bingo” tandem — a combination of the vice president’s name and Sen. Gringo Honasan’s — decorated the stage at the Cebu Coliseum on Friday (October 9) where the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) held its launch in the Visayas.
Beside Honasan’s face were the words “Bise Presidente.”
“Bingo” cookies were also given away at the event where UNA local leaders acknowledged Honasan’s possible tandem with VP Binay.
The problem was — Honasan was a no-show.
And there was no official announcement made as to who Binay’s running mate would really be.
UNA asked Honasan to be Binay’s running mate a few days ago, but the senator asked for more time to decide.
When asked about this, Binay told the media to just wait for the announcement on Monday (October 12) when he and his running mate would file their certificates of candidacy.
The vice president and his staff said they didn’t know why there were tarps of Honasan onstage.
Thousands attended the UNA launch.
Present were Cebu City Mayor Mike Rama, former senator and now Toledo Mayor John Osmeña, and former Negros Occidental Rep. Miniong Teves, among others.
But it was still noticeable that UNA could not fill the 5,000-capacity Cebu Coliseum.
Despite this, Rama, UNA coordinator for the Visayas, claimed he could make Binay win in this region.
“It’s a team effort and it’s not difficult to be selling a good product,” Rama said.
In his speech, Binay once again hit the Aquino administration for what he said were its failures.
The vice president said only a select few were benefiting from progress, specifically those allied with the president.
