Binay camp’s advice for Trillanes to be seen as serious 2016 bet

Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—The camp of Vice President Jejomar Binay on Monday offered an unsolicited advice to Senator Antonio Trillanes IV if the senator wants to be “taken seriously” as a potential contender in the 2016 presidential elections.

“If Senator (Antonio) Trillanes wants to be taken seriously as a presidential contender, he should first show and explain what he has done with his millions of pork barrel and DAP funds. The Filipino people deserve more than dirty underhanded political attacks from ambitious presidential aspirants. They deserve to be told how they will benefit from those who aspire for higher office,” Joey Salgado, Binay’s spokesperson and media affairs chief said in a statement.

Salgado aired this advice to Trillanes after dismissing the senator’s claim of new evidence which will implicate the vice president when the Senate blue ribbon subcommittee probe on alleged anomalies committed by Binay resumes on January.

He also slammed Trillanes for using the Senate probe on Binay as a means to “further his political ambition.”

“Senator Trillanes has announced his intent to run for president in 2016, so we expect him to pursue the so-called Senate probe on the Vice President not in aid of legislation but to gain media mileage for himself. The senator should not be shy to admit that he intends to use the Senate forum to further his presidential ambition,” Salgado added.

Trillanes revealed last November that he is among four presidential contenders being considered by the Nacionalista Party as its standard-bearer in the 2016 polls.

“Apat po ‘yung tinitingnan ng Nacionalista Party–andyan na po si Senator Manny Villar, si Senator Alan Peter Cayetano, Senator Bongbong Marcos, and myself,” Trillanes said in an earlier interview.

The senator also added that he is also prepared for the possibility of running for vice-president.

However, Binay remains to be the presidential candidate to beat as he continues to top voters’ preference surveys.

In the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) poll, Binay led potential presidential candidates with 37 percent while Trillanes obtained five percent.

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