Poe as rival? Binay not backing out

MANILA, Philippines - There’s no way he’s backing out of his presidential bid even if he has to run against a close friend, Vice President Jejomar Binay said yesterday.

Binay, still the frontrunner in the 2016 race in the latest polls, was referring to Sen. Grace Poe whose phenomenal rise in popularity surveys has triggered speculation that she is being groomed as the Liberal Party standard bearer in the 2016 elections.

“I will push through with my candidacy no matter who will be my opponent,” Binay told radio station dzRH when asked if he is ready to challenge Poe if the latter decides to run for president under the administration party.

“The issue in the upcoming elections is experience and competence,” the Vice President stressed.

“The day after the (2010 elections) I declared my intention (to run for president). I am very sure of that. I’m really preparing to serve as president of our country,” he said.

The latest Pulse Asia survey conducted from Nov. 14 to 20 showed the public’s growing preference for Poe as presidential candidate in 2016, next only to Binay in popularity.

Binay’s rating fell sharply in the survey, although he remained the top contender.

Poe has repeatedly said she is not interested in running for president in 2016.

Binay served as the campaign manager of Poe’s father, Fernando Poe Jr. in the 2004 presidential elections. Binay is also a godfather to the senator’s child.

Asked if he is still considering Poe as his running mate, Binay said, “It is possible.”

He said there are several personalities who want to be his vice president.

He also said the possibility of businessman Manuel V. Pangilinan becoming his running mate is now slim.

“I somewhat accepted that Mr. Pangilinan is hesitant because up to now he has not responded to my invitation. But I still consider him,” Binay said.

Binay also admitted that Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is not included in his list of possible running mates.

“I don’t want to lie. He is not among those being considered. Mainly because there is a big possibility that he will run again in the Senate,” the Vice President said. “He will surely win a seat in the Senate.”

US properties

Meanwhile, Binay disclosed that former Makati City vice mayor Ernesto Mercado had tried to convince some of their common friends in the United States to testify against him.

Mercado, a former ally of Binay, has accused the Vice President of receiving kickbacks from various infrastructure projects during his stint as Makati mayor. Mercado also accused Binay of owning several properties in the Philippines and abroad.

Binay said he expects Mercado and his critics in the Senate to show pictures of US properties he allegedly owned through dummies.

“(Mercado) will take pictures and will say this is (Binay’s) property,” the Vice President said in an interview in Pampanga over the weekend.

“Our complainant went to America. We already know what areas in the US he had been. He convinced people there to testify and create stories against us,” Binay said.

“They want these people to testify against me, to create lies that they received something from us, even if there is none. ‘Just say it’s Binay’s property, and we are OK. We will not make things difficult for you in the Senate’,” Binay said.

Binay said Mercado and his companions also took photos of some properties in the US, including ones owned by Mercado himself. He said Mercado and his allies would make it appear that the Vice President is the owner of the properties.

Businessman Antonio Tiu was earlier tagged as Binay’s dummy in a 350-hectare property in Rosario, Batangas.

“Now they will show property in Beverly Hills. I don’t even know where in America is Beverly Hills,” the Vice President said.

Binay said the Senate Blue Ribbon subcommittee investigation, which he said is supposed to be in aid of legislation, has strayed from the original intent of the resolution that started it.

“The investigation against me started with a Senate resolution which claimed that the Makati City Hall building 2 is overpriced. That’s just the scope,” he said.

The Vice President said he believes the Senate investigation is being prolonged to destroy the public’s perception of him and ruin his chances in the 2016 presidential elections.

“This basically is a perception game. Definitely, there is no end game, insofar as the law is concerned. And what is the end game? Conviction,” he said.

Binay, meanwhile, welcomed the statement of Agrarian Reform Secretary Virgilio delos Reyes that he is not the owner of the property in Rosario, as claimed by his political detractors.

Delos Reyes said in an earlier television interview that none of the documents that have surfaced so far have shown that the Vice President owns the property.