Suddenly, VP Binay wants ‘Punisher’ as running mate

Vice President Jejomar Binay and Mayor Rodrigo Duterte. FILE PHOTOS

Vice President Jejomar Binay is considering Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte as his vice presidential running mate in 2016, suddenly announcing this while on a visit to Duterte’s home turf on Thursday and heaping praises on the tough but very popular city executive they call “The Punisher.”

READ: Binay considers Duterte as running mate in 2016

“(He is) being considered. I hope he will not get mad. Being a successful mayor, he is qualified for the post,” Binay said in an interview in Davao City, a transcript of which was e-mailed by Binay’s office to the media.

Binay recalled how he, then Manila Mayor Lito Atienza, and Duterte were once featured together and billed as the three “successful mayors.”

The Vice President, the only declared candidate for President, is on a tour of the Visayas and Mindanao this week, visiting the province of Davao del Norte and Davao City.

Asked about the qualifications he was looking for in a running mate, he replied: “Someone who has the experience and if possible, someone who can understand the economy so we can improve it.”

Not running

Reached for comment, Duterte said he has repeatedly announced that he was not running for any position because he could not afford to do so. Only those who have the resources should run, he said.

“I don’t have money and I don’t want to beg for money. This [idea of running for] Vice President, I have to spend but I don’t have the money. I don’t like asking around for money, especially from other politicians because I don’t want to incur debt of gratitude,” he said in a phone interview.

Duterte said he had been going around not to promote his potential candidacy for a higher post but to rally people to support federalism.

“I have been promoting federalism because there has been confusion because of the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law. But I am not running. There was never an instance that I said am interested to be President or Vice President,” he said.

Binay’s gambit was promptly shut down by a Duterte ally and supporter, former Davao City Councilor Peter Laviña, who called it a cheap gimmick aimed at propping up his image.

“Binay made the offer while he was in Davao, Duterte’s bailiwick. This means he was playing to the gallery where Duterte is so popular he was polling as much as 80 percent support for him to run as President,” Laviña posted on his Facebook page.

He said it was obvious that Binay only wanted formidable presidential candidates like Duterte out of the presidential race.

Laviña noted that Binay had made the same offer to Sen. Grace Poe, another strong presidential contender, as the most recent survey has shown.

Poe placed second to Binay in the March 20 to 23 Social Weather Stations survey of presidential candidate preferences. Duterte tied at third with Interior Secretary Mar Roxas, the presumptive presidential candidate of the ruling Liberal Party.

Sen. Aquilino Pimentel III, the president of Duterte’s PDP-Laban party, yesterday said Binay’s offer would probably get a thumbs-down from the mayor.

“That will surely be rejected. Mayor Duterte might even be insulted,” the senator said in a text message.

It was also “unacceptable” to Pimentel for Duterte to join a Binay ticket.

Pimentel chairs the Senate blue ribbon subcommittee conducting an inquiry into the network of alleged corrupt activities of Binay and his family.

The latest word from Duterte’s camp is that he would make a decision whether or not to run for president in June, Pimentel said.

President Aquino is also expected to announce his anointed one in June.

The PDP-Laban wants Duterte to run for president, but has left it to him to make the choice.

Duterte has been going around the country on a “listening tour” as he ponders his options, and recently flew to Hong Kong to meet with Filipinos there.

But if the feisty Davao City mayor does decide to run, he may need an image makeover and probably tone down his “killing” rhetoric, according to Pimentel.

“He should now sound presidentiable. He would not need to mention executions at every turn just to sound tough,” Pimentel said.

“I think when he decides to run, he will have to undergo campaign planning, image workshop etc. Even your platform should be presented in a manner which will not alienate the voters,” he said.

“You can be macho without mentioning the word ‘kill’ or ‘killing’ in every sentence,” he added.

Pimentel suggested that Duterte may have been misquoted when he was recently quoted as saying that the secret to keeping Davao the safest of cities was to “kill all the criminals.”

“No. 1, there is the possibility that he was misquoted. No. 2, there’s the possibility that it was a bravado … tough talk which sounds too brave,” he said.

The senator said he did not think Duterte was involved in such a thing. “He has never done that,” he said.