Binay says Visayas, Mindanao to pull UNA bets up

SENATORIAL candidates of the UNA, like Nancy Binay (right) shown here dancing with comedian Tiya Pusit in a Pampanga rally, are going to get a boost from the Visayas and Mindanao, according to Vice President Jejomar Binay. E.I. REYMOND T. OREJAS/INQUIRER CENTRAL LUZON

CEBU CITY—Vice President Jejomar Binay said here that vote-rich areas in the Visayas and Mindanao will prove surveys wrong in their projection that only up to five candidates of the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) will make it to the so-called magic 12 in the senatorial race.

During a visit here, Binay said UNA candidates are strong in Sarangani province, which he visited recently.

UNA senatorial candidates, he said, are also expected to do well  in provinces in the Visayas. In Cebu for example, the Vice President said, UNA senatorial candidates are likely to get more votes than he did in the 2010 elections.

He said the number of actual votes that he got in Cebu in 2010 exceeded projections.

“We projected, in my case, 12 to 15 percent (of the vote). I think we got 20 percent,” Binay said.

He said his allies in Cebu—suspended Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia and Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama—would deliver the votes for the UNA.

An Social Weather Stations survey conducted from August 2012 to February 2013 said only UNA senatorial candidates Nancy Binay (rank No. 7), JV Ejercito-Estrada (rank No. 9) and Migz Zubiri (rank No. 12) made it to the top 12 while nine are from Team PNoy—Loren Legarda (1), Chiz Escudero (2), Alan Peter Cayetano (3), Cynthia Villar (4), Grace Poe (5), Koko Pimentel (6), Sonny Trillanes (8), Bam Aquino (10) and Sonny Angara (11).

In a Pulse Asia survey from Jan. 19 to 30, five who made it to the top 12 are from the UNA (Nancy Binay, Ejercito, Juan Ponce “Jack” Enrile Jr., Zubiri and Gregorio Honasan) while the rest are from Team PNoy (Legarda, Escudero, Cayetano, Trillanes, Pimentel, Villar and Angara).