SANGAY, CAMARINES SUR?Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino vice presidential candidate Mayor Jejomar Binay said Thursday he?ll be ready to take over in the event both he and former President Joseph Estrada win and Estrada opts to cut short his six-year term.

Estrada has said he?ll be willing to turn over the office to the vice president if he manages to finish his programs of government before the end of his six-year term.

?I originally declared to run for president,? said Binay to reporters covering the Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino campaign here.

?When I was mayor of Makati, I was able to generate billions of pesos and millions of people were under my care. The only difference is the president is in charge of the whole Philippines,? he said.

?Modesty aside, I?m very qualified,? he added.

Binay said voters should pick a vice president the way they would a president.

?Let us remove the mentality that the vice president is a spare tire. I hope we don?t go back to the situation where, if for one reason or another, the vice president needs to become president the people would hesitate because ? the vice president is not qualified,? Binay said.

He said a president?s job was executive in nature, just like a mayor?s. Binay has consistently come up third in vice presidential surveys, substantially behind Senators Mar Roxas and Loren Legarda.