Binay welcomes Mar, Bong as 2016 rivals

MANILA, Philippines - Vice President Jejomar Binay yesterday welcomed Interior and Local Government Secretary Manuel Roxas II and Sen. Ramon Revilla as possible opponents in the 2016 presidential elections.

“Everybody has a right to be a candidate,” he said.

Binay noted that no less than Sen. Franklin Drilon had announced the administration Liberal Party (LP) would be fielding Roxas in the presidential elections in 2016.

Roxas earlier sought presidential candidacy but eventually gave way to his friend, then senator Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, as the LP’s standard-bearer in the 2010 presidential elections.

As for Revilla, Binay said he has long heard that the actor-senator is planning to run for president in 2016.

House Minority Leader Danilo Suarez had announced that the Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (CMD) was considering Revilla as its standard-bearer in the 2016 presidential elections.

Revilla is likely to use the “Agimat (amulet)” moniker of his father, former senator Ramon Revilla Sr., in the presidential derby.

“Agimat, my political color there is colored brown,” Binay said.

The Vice President, however, declined to comment when asked if President Aquino is expecting his support for the 2016 presidential elections.

“Let’s not speculate. We still have many things to do,” Binay said.

On the other hand, Binay rallied support for his daughter Nancy who is running for senator under the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) in this year’s elections.

He said his daughter is not a newbie in public service and politics.

“She has been by my side when I was still the mayor of Makati and until now that I am the Vice President. She is not new in public service and in politics,” Binay said.

“She is not purely a neophyte. Her strengths could be my mark in leadership. I supposed she knows everything that I have done. She is not new in this kind of work,” he said.

Binay said his daughter could also make good in terms of revenue and infrastructure projects where she has been exposed in her work as his assistant.

“More than that, she is a mother. She has twin children. Her interest is in the rights of women. More than that, she will continue the brand of service we have in Makati,” Binay said.