Binay: ‘Lies’ failed to hurt my popularity

Vice President Jejomar Binay. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines – Vice President Jejomar Binay said on Tuesday his numbers in presidential surveys were improving because people were starting to see through the falsity of the corruption allegations being hurled against him by his political opponents.

“It came to a point that people learn that these are all lies and politically motivated, so our numbers have started to return,” said Binay of his improving ratings in preelection polls.

Binay’s optimism came after he took the lead in a new Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey on the best leaders to succeed President Aquino in 2016.

Binay had 37 percent of respondents favoring him while Sen. Grace Poe and Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II had 21 and 19 percent, respectively.

Binay’s numbers were an improvement as these had been falling for the past several months since he was accused in a Senate inquiry of amassing wealth from alleged illegal activities when he was still mayor of Makati City.

Binay has been accused of receiving kickbacks from the construction of the allegedly overpriced P2.7-billion parking complex of the Makati City Hall Building 2, whose bidding had been allegedly rigged to frequently favor the same contractor during his watch as Makati mayor.

He has also been accused of owning a P1.2-billion, 350-hectare high-end hacienda in Barangay (village) Maligaya, Rosario town, Batangas, using dummy corporations.

Binay has denied the allegations, saying these were part of a demolition job aimed at derailing his 2016 presidential bid.

Interviewed on Tuesday after meeting Israeli Ambassador Effie Ben Matityau, the Vice President told the Philippine Daily Inquirer he was elated about the result of the latest survey, noting that his ratings plummeted because of the lies and attacks against him.

“You know one of the reasons why our numbers fell for a time but still we maintained the leadership—is because of the perception created by our opponents,” he said.

Binay said the people have started to see the falsity of the accusations against him and reasoned that those who had changed their minds about him were starting to trust him again.

Asked whether he thought the worst was over for him, Binay said the attacks against him might not stop but he had no intention of fighting his detractors.

“I will just find ways to explain that those accusations are lies and politically motivated,” Binay added.

The Vice President also refused to comment on former President and now Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada’s statement that he thought Roxas, his potential rival in 2016, was Estrada’s best Cabinet secretary.

“I don’t know. Let’s leave it to him. You know President Erap, sometimes he is being quoted for saying something when he is only joking,” Binay said.

Binay said he still believed Estrada would support his presidential bid in 2016.

“Magkasama kami sa hirap at ginhawa (We will be together through thick and thin),” he said of Estrada, noting that he became the Vice President because Estrada had asked him to be his running mate in 2010.