Vice President Jejomar Binay will attend the final State of the Nation Address (Sona) of President Aquino, his erstwhile ally, as a guest of Congress.
“He is not a guest of the President. He is a guest of both Houses of Congress,” said Navotas Rep. Toby Tiangco, president of Binay’s United Nationalist Alliance (UNA), in a phone interview.
Tiangco said that as in the last five years, Binay and his children—Sen. Nancy Binay and Makati City Rep. Abigail Binay—would be at the Batasang Pambansa complex to listen to Aquino’s speech.
They did not even talk about whether they would attend the Sona as this was not an issue even if Binay and his children had criticized the Aquino administration since the Vice President resigned from the Cabinet, he said.
Tiangco said Binay planned to deliver a speech on the “true state of the nation” this week, but this would depend on the credibility of Aquino’s report.
On Wednesday during a visit to Tayabas City, Binay said he would attend the Sona in honoring Congress’ traditional invitation to the Vice President. “Let us listen to the message of the President,” he said.
Even if he does not agree with all reports from the President, he will also listen to the expected trumpeting of accomplishment and achievements of the administration, Binay said.
Binay said he did not mind joining Aquino’s allies against whom he had filed P200-million damage suit for allegedly maligning him in a bid to derail his campaign for the presidency next year.
Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, Binay’s main critic in the Senate and is among those named in Binay’s lawsuit, said he would not be thrilled to see him.–With a report from Delfin T. Mallari Jr., Inquirer Southern Luzon