That’s Maceda’s opinion, says Binay

He’s on his own.

The Office of the Vice President said it had nothing to do with former Sen. Ernesto Maceda’s assertion that “a vote to acquit Chief Justice Renato Corona is a voice of support for Jejomar Binay in the 2016 presidential election.”

In a text message to the Inquirer on Sunday, Joey Salgado, Binay’s press officer, said Maceda was expressing his own opinion as a political analyst.

“We believe Senator Maceda was expressing his personal opinion as a political analyst. These are the same views that he has aired before in his [newspaper] column and in media interviews,” Salgado said.

“The Vice President,” Salgado said “has always maintained that the impeachment trial of the Chief Justice is a test of our democracy.”

He added: “It is important that the people see the trial as fair and impartial, and the outcome is respected by all. The votes of the senators should not be dictated by party affiliations or political plans but by the appreciation of the facts presented during the trial and what will help strengthen our democracy.”

Maceda had said that how the senators would vote in the impeachment trial of Corona would have an impact on the political future of his ally Binay, who has all but declared his plans to run for president in 2016.

According to Maceda, Corona’s conviction would bolster support for President Aquino and his “anointed candidate” for president, while an acquittal would boost the stock of the opposition candidate, who could very well be Binay.

“This is the Binay factor,” Maceda told a news forum in Quezon City on Saturday. “If you’re for Binay for president [in] 2016, you’ll probably vote for acquittal,” he said.

Binay, Estrada mad

Binay’s Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) has entered into a coalition with former President Joseph Estrada’s Puwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP) to form the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) in preparation for next year’s midterm elections.

Both Binay and Estrada were “very mad” and “irritated” at Maceda for issuing the statement, a coalition insider told the Inquirer.

Maceda was the general campaign manager of Estrada’s PMP in the 2010 presidential election, and has said that he intends to run for a Senate seat in 2013 as a candidate of Binay’s coalition.

Maceda, who has been following and writing about Corona’s impeachment trial in his newspaper column, has predicted that at least seven of the President’s allies in the Senate would vote for Corona’s conviction, while at least five senators would vote for acquittal.

7 for, 5 against

The seven presidential allies Maceda expects to vote for conviction are Senators Franklin Drilon, Francis Pangilinan, Ralph Recto and Teofisto Guingona III—all members of Mr. Aquino’s Liberal Party—and Panfilo Lacson, Sergio Osmeña III and Antonio Trillanes IV.

A possible eighth may be Sen. Edgardo Angara, he said.

Those who may be expected to vote for acquittal, Maceda said, are Senators Joker Arroyo, Miriam Defensor Santiago, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Loren Legarda and Manuel Villar Jr.

Malacañang, meanwhile, on Sunday shrugged off Maceda’s statement that Binay would gain from a Corona acquittal.

Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said Maceda was making his own analysis of the issue.

“I don’t know if the Vice President shares the same position but the position of President Aquino on the impeachment is clear,’’ Valte told government radio dzRB. With a report from Christine O. Avendaño

Originally posted: 6:45 pm | Sunday, April 15th, 2012