Honasan says he has no ill feelings vs Binay-Bongbong tandem
Sen. Gregorio Honasan INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO
United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) vice presidential candidate Sen. Gregorio “Gringo” Honasan II said he has no ill feelings against some local groups backing the tandem of Vice President Jejomar Binay and Sen. Ferdinand Bongbong Marcos Jr.
During the “Pandesal Forum” at the Kamuning Bakery on Monday, Honasan said he respects the decision of groups from the “Solid North” backing the tandem of Binay and Marcos, or “BiBong.”
Honasan admitted that some local groups even call him in advance to inform him that their group backed Marcos instead of him as Binay’s running mate.
READ: A Binay-Marcos alliance in the homestretch?
Honasan said he appreciated the heads-up so that he would not be placed in an awkward situation where he would attend a campaign rally although the local officials were endorsing Marcos and not him.
“Can you imagine, how awkward it will be na nakatayo kami dun sa stage, yung host namin, yung local candidate ine-endorse yung presidental candidate ng UNA pero hindi ako. Edi para akong prop dun, di ba? Yung mga tarpaulins sa likod, hindi mukha ko ang nakalagay. Very awkward for me, the vice president, and the governor,” Honasan said.
(Can you imagine, how awkward it would be that we would be standing onstage, our host, the local candidate is endordsing the presidental candidate of UNA but not me. I would be like a prop there, right? The tarpaulins at the back don’t display my face. Very awkward for me, the vice president, and the governor.)
“So sabi ko, sabihan lang ako, para hindi na ako aakyat sa entablado, or hindi na ako pupunta dun (So I told them to inform me so I would no go onstage or I wouldn’t go there),” he added.
Honasan said he opted not to join Binay in Ilocos Norte on Monday for a courtesy call on Governor Imee Marcos, the sister of Sen. Marcos.
Honasan also did not join Binay in his sortie in Pangasinan, where some groups were also backing the Binay-Marcos tandem.
Binay and Marcos have a strong following in the North because their roots can be traced to Isabela and Ilocos Norte, respectively.
READ: Binay rides on ‘Binay-Bongbong’ tandem in ‘Solid North’ Pangasinan
Honasan said the trend of tandems outside the official political party of a candidate only exposes the poor political party system in the country.
He said he was not hurt being dropped by some groups but said in jest that sometimes he goes to the bathroom to cry.
“It does not hurt me. Umiiyak lang ako sa restroom pag mag-isa ako (I am crying inside the restroom when I’m alone),” Honasan said, rousing laughter from the audience.
“It does not bother me. That’s a consequence of an absence of a political party system, which we should consider post May 9,” he added.
While Binay had failed to regain his lead in the opinion polls, vice presidential aspirant Marcos had been leading the voters’ preference surveys, while Honasan had consistently placed at the bottom.
READ: Duterte still up; Roxas inches up
Marcos’ vice presidential candidacy remains hounded by the martial rule of his father, the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, and the supposed ill-gotten wealth accumulated by his family during his father’s 21-year rule.
During the first vice presidential debate at the University of Santo Tomas (UST), Marcos said he had nothing to do with his family’s alleged ill-gotten wealth and that he could not return what he does not have. RAM/rga
READ: PCGG: Bongbong blocked return of $40M to gov’t
