Binay belittles Trillanes as ‘delusional,’ ‘Senator 1%’

Vice President Jejomar Binay (left) and Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV. INQUIRER FILE PHOTOS

The camp of Vice President Jejomar Binay took a swipe at Senator Antonio Trillanes IV who officially declared his vice presidential bid on Saturday.

Atty. Rico Quicho, Binay’s spokesperson for political affairs, called Trillanes “Senator 1 percent,” a reference to the number garnered by the lawmaker in recent opinion polls gauging his chances for the vice presidency.

Quicho said Trillanes was entitled to his delusion of being Binay’s successor.

“Senator Trillanes is entitled to his delusions. He has built a career out of attempting and failing to destroy institutions and reputations. This is his claim to infamy. Now he wants to bully his way to the vice presidency,” Quicho said in a statement.

The lawyer said that the public had been disillusioned by his “political stunts,” referring to the Senate Blue Ribbon subcommittee hearings on corruption allegations being pinned to Binay.

“The people can no longer be deceived by political stunts, and his political stunts at the Senate have been graded by the people: from a preference of 4 percent last year to 1 percent in the recent surveys… Senator 1 percent can pontificate all he wants but he cannot fool the people,” he added.

Quicho then hit Trillanes for leading the Magdalo coup de etat and for allegedly earmarking taxpayers’ money for numerous consultants.

Trillanes said on Saturday that seeking the vice presidency would be an uphill battle for him as he would square off with candidates who have more money and more famous names.

“Ngunit ako ay naniniwala na hangga’t ang ating layunin ay iahon ang ating bayan, ayusin ang ating gobyerno at tulungan ang ating kapwa at lalo na habang tayo ay magkakaisa, tayo ay magtatagumpay,” he said.

In the same event, Trillanes said that Magdalo would back Senator Grace Poe’s presidential bid.