Binay daughter completes UNA slate

MANILA, Philippines - The eldest daughter of Vice President Jejomar Binay completes the 12-member senatorial slate of the United Nationalist Alliance for the midterm elections next year, UNA secretary-general Toby Tiangco said yesterday.

Tiangco said Nancy Binay will be filing her certificate of candidacy (COC) at the main office of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) in Intramuros, Manila at 3:30 p.m. today.

Nancy is a graduate of Tourism from the University of the Philippines-Diliman and an officer of the Bigay Pagmamahal Foundation.

Other candidates in the UNA senatorial slate are Sen. Gringo Honasan, former senators Ernesto Maceda, Richard Gordon, Juan Miguel Zubiri, San Juan City Rep. JV Ejercito, Cagayan Rep. Jack Enrile, Zambales Rep. Mitos Magsaysay and former Tarlac governor Margarita Cojuangco.

The coalition has three guest candidates: Senators Francis Escudero and Loren Legarda, and Movie and Television Review and Classification Board chairman Grace Poe-Llamanzares.

Tiangco said they chose Binay as replacement for businessman Joey de Venecia, who dropped his senatorial bid to concentrate on his business, because she is qualified and winnable.

“We are encouraged by Nancy’s consistently strong performance in the surveys. She has always landed in the winning circle in both Pulse Asia and SWS with the least effort,” Tiangco said.

“There has also been a groundswell of support for her candidacy coming from sectoral groups and non-governmental organizations nationwide. We cannot ignore these voices and their commitment to help Nancy and the entire senatorial slate of UNA,” he said.

Tiangco added that UNA is certain that Nancy will bring to the Senate the “Binay brand of outstanding public service, as exemplified by the social programs initiated by her father, Vice President Jejomar Binay.”

He said these “trailblazing programs” were in education, health and senior citizens welfare, which “have been replicated by other local governments and recognized by international organizations for uplifting the lives of ordinary people.”

Tiangco noted how Vice President Binay has been working tirelessly in the executive department, and “we can now be assured that there will be additional legislative support in Congress that will bring the social benefits currently being enjoyed by the citizens of Makati to all Filipinos.”

Senate President Pro-Tempore Jinggoy Estrada welcomed the inclusion of Binay in UNA’s senatorial slate.

“I’m in favor of her. She is winnable and competent. I will endorse her,” Estrada said, adding that Binay should take up the challenge.

“In fact, she is winnable because she landed 12 among the senatorial candidates in poll surveys despite having not declared yet any intention to run for senator,” Estrada said. 

Tañada turns down offer

Earlier yesterday, Quezon Rep. Erin Tañada said he decided to turn down the offer of the UNA to be included in its senatorial lineup.

He made the decision four days after rumors flew thick and fast that the alliance of Binay and Estrada started courting him following Monday’s announcement by President Aquino of the administration coalition’s senatorial candidates.

Tañada, an original member of the Liberal Party (LP), was not among the 12 candidates Aquino proclaimed.

Of the 12, only three are LP members, with the rest coming from other parties.

The Quezon congressman admitted that Binay and Estrada had asked him to join their ticket and another offer came from the leftist Makabayan group of former Bayan Muna Rep. Satur Ocampo.

“But as a true believer that we must persist in having consistent political parties as part of our nation building effort and as an advocate for political party and campaign reform, I had respectfully declined their invitation,” he said.

He said he is not running “even as an independent.”

He said he backed out of aspiring to be in the ruling party’s senatorial slate to give Aquino a free hand in choosing administration candidates.

Tañada thanked his LP and House colleagues, his constituents and others who supported his aborted senatorial bid.

“I would like to make special mention of Speaker Sonny Belmonte, Rep. Teddy Baguilat (of Ifugao) and Rep. Neri Colminares (of Bayan Muna) who have been saying kind words these past few days publicly and endorsed my bid to be one of the LP senatorial candidates. To them, I will be eternally grateful,” he said.

Key LP leaders pushed hard for Tañada to be one of their candidates, but it was Aquino who was reportedly lukewarm to his senatorial bid.

The Quezon congressman and his party boss do not see eye-to-eye on certain issues, including the Freedom of Information bill, of which Tañada is principal author. 

Other UNA bets

Another daughter of Vice President Binay, Mar-Len Abigail Binay, filed her COC for a congressional seat in Makati at the Comelec-National Capital Region office yesterday afternoon.

Meanwhile, UNA spokesman JV Bautista is running for congressman of Nueva Ecija. Bautista yesterday said he filed his certificate of candidacy last Tuesday at the local Comelec office in Cabanatuan.

He will be up against third district Rep. Carina Umali. 

Political partner

The LP-led administration coalition should treat the UNA of Binay and former President Estrada as its political partner and not its rival in the 2013 elections.

“UNA should be seen as a partner of the Aquino administration. We are not obstructionist critics. We will support and commend programs and policies that will benefit our people. But we will also point out shortcomings and misguided policies. This we owe to the people,” Tiangco said.

“We believe that the reform agenda of our President is best served not by blind obedience but by responsible vigilance. We must make sure that the abuse of power for personal and political ends and the widespread corruption and misuse of public funds during the previous regime will not be repeated,” he said.

He said the real opponent that UNA and the LP coalition should combat together “is poverty and hunger.”

In proclaiming their 12 candidates on Monday, President Aquino, who is titular head of the ruling party, and other LP leaders referred to the Binay-Estrada alliance as the “opposition.”

At the same time, Tiangco turned the tables on the LP camp, which claims that some UNA candidates are loyalists of former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

In particular, the administration coalition was referring to Zambales Rep. Mitos Magsaysay, a staunch Arroyo ally.

Tiangco said there are “personalities in the administration who are attempting to recast themselves as true-blue believers in reform and good governance.”

“The truth is that these personalities were among the most rabid defenders of Mrs. Arroyo when she was in power, but have found it politically convenient to wear yellow and proclaim themselves as advocates of tuwid na daan,” he said.

He did not name names because “these hypocrites know who they are.” – With Jess Diaz, Sandy Araneta