VP’s children now in foes’ crosshairs, Binay camp says

Makati Representative Abigail Binay. INQUIRER PHOTO/JOAN BONDOC

MANILA, Philippines–The camp of Vice President Jejomar Binay on Sunday said that the issue of the Binay children being dragged into controversies is “part of a grand plan to put the Vice President in bad light in the run up to the 2016 elections.”

The Binay camp was reacting to reports that the House of Representatives had been subpoenaed by the Office of the Ombudsman to submit authenticated documents on the gross earnings as well as the travel orders of Makati Rep. Mar-len Abigail Binay-Campos, the Vice President’s daughter.

Binay’s spokesman Joey Salgado said they were not aware of any complaint filed or pending against the congresswoman.

“So we can only assume that the Ombudsman is sending a subtle signal that the Binay children are now in their crosshairs,” Salgado said in a text message.

Salgado said the political opponents’ “grand plan” apparently suffered a setback when a recent Social Weather Station (SWS) showed that Binay’s popularity was not affected by the political intrigues after he was seen as the best leader to succeed President Aquino in 2016.

“The action of the Ombudsman unfortunately gives credence to the observation that government resources are being tapped to harass the Vice President and his family and those known to be close friends or have associated with them in the Senate hearings,” Salgado said.

He said if this observation was true, “this signals a reversal to the discredited practice of the past where the machinery of government is utilized against political opponents.”

But Salgado said Binay is not about to back out from his presidential bid even as the Vice President remains confident that his numbers in presidential preferential surveys were improving because people have started to see the falsity of the corruption allegations against him.

Binay topped a recent SWS survey on the best leader to succeed Aquino in 2016, with Sen. Grace Poe and Interior Secretary Mar Roxas trailing behind.

Binay had denied the allegations hurled against him by former Makati officials who served under his administration who accused the Vice President of allowing illegal activities to prosper under his watch and even profiting from them.