Binay urges Aquino: Call for clean polls instead of unity vs Duterte

Vice President Jejomar Binay. INQUIRER PHOTO

The camp of Vice President Jejomar Binay on Friday urged President Benigno Aquino III to focus on maintaining clean and honest elections rather than urging the candidates to unite against survey front-runner Rodrigo Duterte.

In a statement, Binay’s information officer Joey Salgado said Aquino’s call for the candidates to join forces against a possible dictatorship under Duterte sounded “hollow” because the President himself had been hitting the rivals of administration bet Mar Roxas.

“With two days to go before the people choose their next president, Vice President Binay believes the President should just ensure that the election is free from cheating, violence and intimidation,” Salgado said.

“Besides, such a call for unity sounds hollow considering that the President has been hitting the rivals of Roxas throughout the campaign,” he added.

Salgado said the public should respect the results of the elections as long as it was done in a clean and credible manner.

“As long as (the candidate) wins in a clean election, we should respect the people’s judgment because that’s the essence of democracy,” he said. “Vice President Binay continues the fight for a government that is not insensitive and inefficient, and truly serves the poor.”

Binay’s camp issued the statement after administration bet Roxas in a press conference asked for a dialogue with Sen. Grace Poe to thwart a possible dictatorship under Duterte, who has been leading the voters’ opinion polls days before the May 9 elections. RC

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