Binay vows to continue Aquino war vs corruption
Vice President Jejomar Binay. INQUIRER PHOTO / NIÑO JESUS ORBETA
MANILA, Philippines—Should he win the presidency, Vice President Jejomar Binay said he would continue the Aquino administration’s anticorruption programs, countering the claim of his rival, Interior Secretary Mar Roxas.
If there is an Aquino administration program worth continuing, it is the fight against corruption, declared Binay, who is facing a string of corruption allegations.
“We would want to continue it and intensify it, and make sure the results will be evident,” he told reporters.
During a visit to Pandi, Bulacan province, on Thursday, Binay was asked to comment on statements that Roxas made at the Inquirer late Tuesday that he (Roxas) was not so much bothered by his possibly failing in his yet-to-be-announced presidential bid in 2016, but by the chance that the next president would discontinue Mr. Aquino’s daang matuwid (right path) policy.
But Roxas said he believed Filipino voters to be smart and they would know who will be the “good choice.”
Binay merely laughed off Roxas’ pointed comments, saying government programs should not be stopped just because the previous administration had started them.
“For me, programs that garnered good results should be continued with the right kind of governance. When I became the Makati mayor, I continued the programs of my predecessor like hospitals and health projects,” he said.
Despite the corruption allegations against him, Binay continues to lead the most recent surveys on candidate preferences in the 2016 presidential election.
Roxas lost to Binay in the 2010 vice presidential contest and some analysts say he could lose to Binay again in the 2016 presidential election.
Mr. Aquino and the ruling Liberal Party have yet to declare their presidential candidate but it is widely believed that they would pick Roxas, who gave up his presidential run in 2010 in favor of the popular Mr. Aquino.
Among the accusations being leveled against Binay are the allegedly graft-ridden infrastructure contracts that he entered into when he was the mayor of Makati, including the construction of the P2.28-billion Makati City Hall Building II which is alleged to be overpriced.
The Senate blue ribbon subcommittee is also investigating allegations that the Vice President owns an 8,877-square-meter lot in Makati and a 350-hectare agricultural farm in Rosario, Batangas province, worth billions of pesos.
Binay has denied all the allegations, saying these were part of a “demolition job” instigated by his political rivals.
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