FOR a moment, Vice President Jejomar Binay called himself president on Wednesday.
But of course it was just a slip of the tongue, and he quickly corrected himself.
The incident happened when a reporter asked the Vice President soon after his arrival at an event in Pasay City Wednesday night about the latest allegation that he made money from the University of Makati’s (UMak) College of Nursing while he was still the mayor of Makati City.
Asked to confirm if he had indeed resigned as chairman of the shareholders of the Philippine Healthcare Educators Inc (PHEI), which was created to operate the College of Nursing, Binay said: “E paano naman, president na ako.”
Binay only realized his mistake when the reporter who asked the question said that he probably meant vice president.
The Vice President smiled and said that he made the gaffe because of reporters’ tendency to ask him questions about his presidential bid in 2016.
Binay denied earning a single centavo from the company, saying he was just a nominal stockholder of PHEI with only one percent share.
He said he resigned as PHEI chairman shortly after he was elected vice president in May 2010.
During the same interview, Binay made another mistake when he misunderstood the question of another reporter, who asked him about his running mate in the upcoming elections.
Binay thought he was being asked if he would run for vice president.
“Hindi mo na ako pinaasenso…” he said.
The reporter had to correct him again. AC