Binay laughs at Roxas’ ‘Solid North’ claim

Vice President Jejomar Binay. Marc Jayson Cayabyab/INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO

Vice President Jejomar Binay on Wednesday laughed at his political nemesis Liberal Party standard-bearer Manuel “Mar” Roxas II’s claim that the latter has the support of the “Solid North.”

In an interview with reporters in Cauayan, Isabela where he took his campaign sortie, Binay expressed his disbelief that Roxas would claim to have the backing of the north although the latter is not even from there.

Roxas’ roots can be traced to Capiz, the home province of his grandfather former President Manuel Roxas.

Binay said he, however, is a native of Isabela, because his mother was born in Cabagan.

“Tiga saan ba yun? Tiga saan (Where is from)?” Binay said of Roxas, laughing.

“Tiga north ba yun? Ako, Northern Luzon ako. Saka nanggaling kami ni Sen. (Manny) Pacquiao doon, sobrang init ng pagkakatanggap sa amin. Sa Ilocos Norte ha,” Binay said.

(Is he from the north? I’m from Northern Luzon. Sen. Pacquiao and I went there and we received a warm welcome. In Ilocos Norte.)

He said in the 2010 vice presidential race, he won in all the towns of Ilocos Norte although he had not campaigned much in the province.

“Nung 2010 sa lahat ng bayan nanalo ako doon hindi pa ako halos nakapagkampanya. Ito, katulad nung sa ibang lugar, mga pinuntahan ko sa oras ng pangangailangan. Lagi akong nakikita sa field,” Binay said.

(In 2010, I won in all the towns of Ilocos Norte although I haven’t campaigned much there. It was here, as well as in other places, where I came in times of need. I was always seen in the field.)

Binay made the reaction after Roxas’ camp said it has gained the support of Ilocos Norte Rep. Rodolfo Farinas and 22 mayors in the province.

Roxas also got the support of Ilocos Sur Rep. Eric Singson, who is the Liberal Party’s regional chair.

READ: LP claims Solid North for Mar

Binay claimed to have the support of the “Solid North” because of his tandem with Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., who gained support of the officials from the Ilocos region owing to his regionalistic roots there through his father the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos. Marcos’ family hails from Batac, Ilocos Norte.

Meanwhile, Binay also has a following in the north because of his Ibanag roots in Isabela.

READ: Binay rides on ‘Binay-Bongbong’ tandem in ‘Solid North’ Pangasinan 

Interestingly, Binay’s running mate Sen. Gregorio “Gringo” Honasan II had been missing Binay’s sorties in the north in deference to the local officials there who were supportive of a Binay-Marcos tandem, or “Bi-Bo.”

READ: Honasan says he has no ill feelings vs Binay-Bongbong tandem

While Binay had failed to regain his lead in the opinion polls, Marcos had been leading the voters’ preference surveys, while Honasan had consistently placed at the bottom. According to the latest Pulse Asia survey conducted from April 26-29, Marcos shared the lead with administration vice presidential candidate Camarines Sur Rep. Ma. Leonor “Leni” Robredo.

READ: Leni up 4, Bongbong down 3, for virtual tie in latest Pulse

Sen Marcos’ vice presidential bid remains hounded by the human rights violations under the martial rule of his father Ferdinand Marcos and the ill-gotten wealth accumulated by his family under the late dictator’s 21-year rule.

During the first vice presidential debate at the University of Santo Tomas, Marcos even said he had nothing to do with his family’s alleged ill-gotten wealth and that he could not return what he does not have.

READ: PCGG: Bongbong blocked return of $40M to gov’t

Meanwhile, Sen. Marcos’ sister Ilocos Norte Governor Imee Marcos and her three sons were implicated in the offshore accounts in the British Virgin Islands, a known tax-haven for the world’s elite, according to the Offshore Leaks in 2013 released by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and reported by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism.

The investigation linked the governor to offshore companies Sintra Trust, ComCentre Corp., and M Trust, which she did not declare in her statement of assets and liabilities networth (SALN), raising suspicions that these could have been used to stash away the Marcoses’ alleged ill-gotten wealth pegged at $5 billion during her father’s two-decade rule.

READ: PH to probe ‘secret’ Marcos offshore trust

The Marcoses were also subjects of civil forfeiture cases before the Sandiganbayan on their alleged ill-gotten wealth in connivance with their cronies. Meanwhile, the Marcos matriarch Ilocos Norte Rep. Imelda Marcos faces 10 counts of graft before the Sandiganbayan for allegedly having pecuniary interests in various foundations set up by her and her husband to accumulate ill-gotten wealth. RAM