Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — The United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) has chosen a spokesperson for the coming general elections.
Former Cainta mayor and broadcaster Mon Ilagan confirmed with CNN Philippines on Saturday (June 20) that UNA had appointed him on Wednesday, June 17, to speak for the opposition group.
Ilagan added that he will also be the provincial coordinator in the province of Rizal.
He said that he still believed in Vice President Jejomar Binay’s capacity as a leader amid corruption allegations being thrown his way.
Regarding his new task, Ilagan will focus on strengthening Binay’s base of supporters in local governments nationwide.
Before this appointment, Ilagan worked as a reporter of ABS-CBN for nine years, then joined politics and became Cainta mayor from 2004 to 2013.
Meanwhile, some analysts said that Binay can still regain his lead in the presidential survey race if he faced the allegations against him head on.
Prof. Roland Simbulan said that if the vice president won’t do this, he will be losing more points in the coming surveys.
For his part, Prof. Temario Rivera of UP Diliman said it was not enough for Binay to brush aside allegations by merely saying they were politically motivated.
Rivera added that Binay must show documents that will support his claim of innocence.
