Nancy Binay on freeze order: ‘Desperate times call for desperate measures’

Senator Nancy Binay on Wednesday tagged the Liberal Party (LP)  behind  what she described as  another attempt to derail the presidential bid of her father, Vice President  Jejomar Binay.

“I guess desperate times call for desperate measures. Siguro talaga  yung isang partido ay nangingig na kasi yung pambato nila ay talagang kumbaga e  mababa pagdating sa survey,”   she told reporters when asked about the  freeze order that the Court of Appeals reportedly issued on the Vice President’s bank  accounts.

(I guess desperate times call for desperate measures. Maybe the  other party is  already nervous because  their  bet is really low in the survey)

“Ang hirap kasi kahit anong bato  na yung ginawa sa pamilya ko yung kandidato nila hindi tumataas so  wala,  desperate,”  she added.

(The problem is whatever  accusations they throw at our family, their candidate  is  still not doing well  in surveys so that’s why they are desperate.)

Asked  if she was referring to the  Liberal Party,   she said: “Kinda. Parang, di ba?  Kasi, e  sila naman yung medyo parang yung kandidato nila e, in fact di ba, the mere fact that the President has to look for an alternative candidate, it means, medyo may pagka nahihirapan silang kumuha ng kandidato na itatapat sa ating Vice President,” she said.

(Kinda.  Because the mere fact that the President has to look for an alternative candidate, it means that they’re having  a hard time to find a candidate  against our Vice President)

Senator Binay was  apparently referring to President  Benigno Aquino III and  Senator Grace Poe’ meeting about the  2016  elections, which  raised speculations that Poe  is now being considered  to be  the LP’s bet in 2016.

READ: Aquino admits meeting with Poe to discuss 2016 plans

The  party  has been pushing  for  Interior Secretary Mar Roxas to be its standard-bearer despite his low ranking in various presidential surveys.

Asked if she thinks the  President  himself  might have been involved in the attacks  against her father,  Senator Binay said: “A that, mahirap  to speculate. Basta kami, alam namin, mas sigurado kami dun sa nag-aambisyon for 2016.”

(It’s hard to speculate.  What we know  is that we’re  more than  sure  of  the  one who’s aspiring in 2016)

But LP’s vice chairman, Senate  President Franklin Drilon, quickly denied LP’s  hand   on the court’s freeze  order.

READ: Binay camp: LP has AMLC report

“We have nothing to do with that. The members of the AMLC are professionals, the Bangko Sentral governor is, the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission)  officials are professionals. They are not partisan,” he said in a separate interview.

AMLC is Anti-Money Laundering Council, which asked  the Court of Appeals to freeze Binay’s  bank accounts  in connection with the Office of the Ombudsman’s investigation on the allegedly overpriced   Makati City Hall parking building.

But  Senator Binay believes  that the  AMLC  and other  agencies are  being used for  political persecution.

While she said her family can  explain   the issues being raised against them,  she lamented how  some government  agencies  were being used   against the administration’s  political opponents.

“Wala  pa yata akong naririnig na kakampi nila  na  under investigation or na-freeze yung account so this is all about 2016 kasi yung ambition ng  isang partido  is more important  than following the rules,”  the senator added.

(I have not heard any  of  their political allies who are under investigation or  whose accounts   have been  frozen so this is all about 2016  because the  ambition  of one party is  more than important following the rules.) DPL