Binay to deliver own SONA today

MANILA, Philippines - Vice President Jejomar Binay will speak about the “true state of the nation” in Cavite today, his spokesman said yesterday.

Joey Salgado, Binay’s spokesperson for media affairs, said the Vice President will deliver his own version of the State of the Nation Address (SONA) at the Cavite State University Gymnasium in Indang, Cavite at 4 p.m. today.

United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) spokesman Mon Ilagan earlier said Binay’s “True SONA” will focus on the real situation of the Filipino masses including poverty, hunger and the problems in the Metro Rail Transit, fund anomalies, among others.

He said the UNA leader will reveal and convey the issues he encountered during his visits to various provinces within the country.

Rico Quicho, Binay’s spokesperson for political affairs, last week said the Vice President “will remove the gloss and tell the plain truth as experienced everyday by ordinary Filipinos.”

Binay’s speech comes a week after President Aquino’s sixth and final SONA, where he took a swipe at the Vice President at least three times.

In his SONA, Aquino thanked top government officials and employees, including his hair stylist and cook, but not mentioning Binay.

The Vice President’s “True SONA” also comes days after Aquino endorsed Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II as the standard-bearer of the ruling Liberal Party in the 2016 presidential elections.

Binay resigned from the Cabinet on June 22, saying he could no longer stomach the administration’s neglect of the poor and persecution of its political opponents.

He has officially declared his 2016 presidential bid during the launching of UNA last July 1.

Hounded by various corruption allegations, Binay failed to get the President’s endorsement for next year’s elections.

Binay said he plans to continue the government’s conditional cash transfer (CCT) program should he get elected president in 2016.

But the CCT program should be reformed and purged of unqualified beneficiaries, he said.

“We should plug the leakages to make sure that the assistance goes to those who are qualified and those who need it most,” Binay said.

According to Binay, in one particular instance, the CCT program was used by political operators to buy votes for the administration candidates in Camarines Sur.

Binay said aside from improving the implementation of the program, the government should pursue a clear program to generate jobs for the poor.