Manny V. Pangilinan
MANILA, Philippines – Businessman Manuel V Pangilinan on Tuesday thanked Vice President Jejomar Binay for wanting him to become his running mate in 2016 but it doesn’t mean he’s accepting the offer.
“Thank you,” Pangilinan replied when asked about Binay’s offer.
However, when pressed to elaborate, he said, “Di ba sinabi ko na? Baka magalit na sa akin si Vice (Binay).”
(I already answered. The Vice President might be offended.)
Pangilinan said his life only revolved around business and sports and that he did not know anything about politics.
Binay recently said that his dream team-up in 2016 with telecommunications and media tycoon —whom he calls “Bossing”—will be good for the Philippines and his bid to run his government, when he is already president, like a private corporation.
There’s one problem, though: Pangilinan has no plans of running for any public office.
Binay, 71, said in an interview with the Inquirer last week that he was wooing Pangilinan, asking him to be his vice-presidential running mate. The last time they talked about it, he said, was last month.
The Vice President said he wanted Pangilinan, better known by his initials MVP, to be his running mate because of the tycoon’s track record in business and his not being a politician.
Binay, who disclosed his presidential plans even before he was elected vice president in 2010, said he had been considering Pangilinan as a running mate since last year.
He said he had met with Pangilinan and asked the businessman to consider his offer.
“Bossing, that’s what I call him,” he said, referring to Pangilinan, chair of the giant Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT).
Aside from Pangilinan’s being a corporate genius, Binay said he liked the PLDT chief’s strong advocacy of corporate social responsibility.
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