United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) standard-bearer Vice President Jejomar C. Binay during his campaign in Cagayan de Oro on April 18. HANDOUT PHOTO
Vice President Jejomar Binay shrugged off the heckling he endured when he took his campaign to Capiz, a known bailiwick of nemesis Mar Roxas.
In an interview with reporters there on Tuesday, Binay said he did not want to get angry at the supporters of Roxas, who wore yellow and flashed the former interior secretary’s posters as his motorcade went by.
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According to an ANC report, a truck bearing Roxas’ posters and blaring his jingle even went around Binay’s truck to drown out the vice president’s campaign song.
Binay said the response he got from Roxas’ supporters in Capiz only showed the Liberal Party’s attitude in campaigning.
“Ang mapikon, talo. Pero, lumalabas naman ho ang hindi magandang ugali nila,” Binay said. “Yon ang mga tipo ng pangangampanya nila,” he added.
Still, Binay said the heckling would not stop him from visiting Roxas’ bailiwick to send a message to his “silent supporters” there that he would not abandon them.
“Balwarte pero marami-rami kaming boto na makukuha dito. ‘Yong leader, lagi mong pinuprotektahan ‘yong mga tauhan mo. Nandito para sabihing: ‘Wag kayong matakot. Wala tayong iwanan. Hindi ko kayo pababayaan,'” Binay said.
Roxas criticized Binay for corruption after Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales found probable cause to indict the vice president and his son, dismissed Makati mayor Junjun Binay, for malversation, graft and falsification of public documents for allegedly rigging the procurement for the design and construction of the allegedly overpriced Makati car park building.
Junjun is now facing charges before the Sandiganbayan, while the Ombudsman waits for the Vice President to end his term since his position renders him immune from suit.
Binay was also the subject of a year-long Senate investigation into the millions of kickbacks Binay allegedly received from overpriced deals in Makati when he was mayor.
Binay and Roxas, now presidential contenders, had been at odds since Binay beat Roxas by a slim margin during the 2010 vice presidential race.
Binay in his stump speeches have criticized Roxas for being inefficient in his handling of the MRT-3 as transportation secretary, and in the slow government response in the aftermath of super typhoon Yolanda as interior secretary.