Count me in: Binay also seeks meeting with NPC

Don’t count Vice President Jejomar Binay out in the frantic courtship of Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC), the country’s second-largest political party founded by businessman Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco Jr.

Binay’s spokesman Joey Salgado told the Inquirer that the Vice President was also keen on having an audience with the NPC through the help of Danding’s son, former Pangasinan Rep. Mark Cojuangco.

“The VP looks forward to meeting them (NPC), although he has met with top officials of the NPC individually,” Salgado said.

Cojuangco has been Binay’s lead companion in recent sorties to the vote-rich Pangasinan.

NPC spokesman and Valenzuela Mayor Rex Gatchalian said he heard Cojuangco saying he would “make a case” for Binay with the NPC.

“I’m not aware of any scheduled meeting with Binay as of now. But there will be more member consultations,” Gatchalian said.

‘Exploratory stage’

JV Bautista, secretary general of Binay’s United Nationalist Alliance (UNA), on Wednesday said the NPC was on an “exploratory stage” having met separately on Tuesday with Interior Secretary Mar Roxas and Sen. Grace Poe.

“I think a meeting or an invitation to the Vice President may be forthcoming,” Bautista said in a media forum in San Juan City on Wednesday.

“Mark Cojuangco has openly declared he wants to support VP Binay—and he’s very influential in the party,” Bautista said. He added that another NPC member, Valenzuela Rep. Sherwin Gatchalian, was “running on our slate.”

Bautista also said that while UNA and former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’ Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (Lakas-CMD) had yet to decide whether it would coalesce in the May 2016 polls, there still remained the possibility of the two parties supporting each other.

“What is happening now is that there’s an idea that Lakas can support the candidates of UNA, and we can help each other in the local positions. Many incumbent officials are still with Lakas. If the Liberal Party will fight them and we have no candidate, then we can support them,” he said.

Bautista said that Binay and Arroyo, now a Pampanga representative, didn’t talk politics when the Vice President came to Heritage Park on Tuesday to condole with the former President, whose elder brother, Arturo Macapagal, succumbed to prostate cancer. Arroyo is under hospital arrest at Veterans Memorial Medical Center on plunder charges.

Warm meeting but…

Binay reportedly told Arroyo: “Finally, we meet again. At least I was able to finally see you, it’s been so long.”

Bautista pointed out that the apparent warm meeting between the two shouldn’t be construed as Binay forgetting Arroyo’s alleged wrongdoing.

“VP Binay was condoling—everybody else was condoling—Malacañang was condoling, right? But VP Binay chose to be physically present so he can condole personally. I think [it was] a very good gesture. That doesn’t mean that the sins committed have been forgotten,” he said.

Binay, who was a longtime Makati mayor before becoming Vice President, was a staunch critic of the Arroyo administration which, at one time, tried to remove him from office–With a report from Jovic Yee and Maera Tezuka