Binay hardly clapped during Aquino’s Sona

Vice President Jejomar Binay. FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—Vice President Jejomar Binay had his arms folded across his chest when President Aquino, in his State of the Nation Address (Sona), exhorted his audience to start thinking about 2016.

While his wife, Elenita, was graciously clapping along with the audience, Binay did not hide his disappointment and refused to play along.

Binay was also the only one who did not clap among Cabinet members when the President announced during a meeting that he was rejecting Budget Secretary Florencio Abad’s resignation over the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) fiasco.

Binay later told the media that the President should have accepted Abad’s resignation.

Binay’s daughter, Makati Rep. Mar-Len Abigail Binay-Campos, hardly clapped during the President’s address. She appeared bored and fiddled with her mobile phone.

The President’s fifth Sona was highly anticipated but this only underscored the dozens of empty seats in the second- and third-floor galleries.

That was unusual for a Sona, which had always been a standing room only affair, even during the dark days of the Arroyo administration. The doors were usually closed an hour before the 4 p.m. address, with nobody allowed to enter or exit until after the speech.

At Monday’s Sona, the doors were closed just 30 minutes before the President’s call time.

The Makabayan bloc members, who wore peach for their impeachment complaint, walked out just before the President began his speech.

Their action prompted the partisan crowd to applaud louder and jeer their peers’ show of contempt.

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