Vice President Jejomar Binay may choose ring legend and Rep. Manny Pacquiao as his running mate in the 2016 elections but the constitutional provision on the age of those aspiring for vice president will automatically knock him out of contention, detained Sen. Jinggoy Estrada said on Tuesday.
“Everything is still possible,” Estrada said when asked about reports that Binay was courting Pacquiao as his possible running mate.
“I think he might not be qualified because of his age,” Estrada told reporters after attending a hearing of his bail petition in the Sandiganbayan.
Searching for a partner
Pacquiao, the only eight-division world boxing champion, will be 37 years old in 2016, three years short of the constitutional age requirement of 40 for vice presidential candidates.
Binay, the presumptive standard-bearer of the opposition in the 2016 presidential election, reportedly started looking for a possible partner after Estrada was ordered arrested by the antigraft court in June for his supposed role in the P10-billion pork barrel scam.
Estrada has said the opposition bloc has yet to decide on Binay’s possible partner.
Binay, who has consistently led the surveys of possible presidential candidates, was earlier reported to have spoken with influential businessman Manny Pangilinan to convince the telecommunications and media magnate to team up with him.
Embroiled in allegations that he was involved in corrupt activities when he was still mayor of Makati City, Binay has said he is also considering inviting his staunch rival, Interior Secretary Mar Roxas, to be his running mate.
Both Pangilinan and Roxas have ruled out such a possibility.
Senate hopes derailed
Before many Filipinos become too sold on the idea of Pacquiao running for vice president, election lawyer Romulo Macalintal on Tuesday pointed out that Pacquiao lacked the required age to become Binay’s running mate.
In 2010, Pacquiao’s hopes to run for a seat in the Senate got derailed as he was only 32 years old then. Under the Constitution, a senator must be at least 35 years of age on the day of the election.
“A mere visit by Vice President Binay in the province of Sarangani, which is the legislative district represented by … Pacquiao, once again sparked speculation that he is being wooed by Binay to be his running mate,” Macalintal said.
“For sure, Binay knows that to be qualified to run for President and Vice President, the candidate must at least be 40 years of age on the day of the election,” Macalintal pointed out.
Born Dec. 17, 1978
Macalintal said that Pacquiao, born on Dec. 17, 1978, would only be 38 years old in 2016.
“He is not yet qualified to run for Vice President or to be the running mate of Binay in 2016,” Macalintal said.
Should Pacquiao run for a higher post two years from now, the veteran election lawyer said the boxer was qualified to run for a Senate seat.
Earlier, Binay said Pacquiao would be included in his senatorial slate in 2016.
House seat open
The possibility of a Binay-Pacquiao tandem in 2016 came up during Binay’s visit to General Santos City on Monday.
While some groups were urging him to convince the boxing champ to be his running mate, Binay said he had yet to decide who his running mate would be.
Pacquiao will be 37 years old in May 2016, three years short of the constitutional requirement.
In 2013, Pacquiao, then 34, also failed to qualify for the senatorial race as the Constitution requires candidates to be at least 35 on the day of the election, which falls every second Monday of May—seven months before his birthday on Dec. 17.
Pacquiao, who is on his second term as representative, ran as congressman in 2010 at the age of 31, meeting the 25-year-old age requirement to be a member of the House of Representatives.–With a report from Inquirer Research
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