Hacienda Binay issue trails VP in Mindanao trip

MANILA, Philippines – Vice President Jejomar Binay got busy at work. He spent 5 days in several provinces in Mindanao, jumped from one event to another, and gave ambush and radio interviews left and right.

Vice President Jejomar Binay explained in interviews that he was going around to boost the information campaign for the government’s low-cost housing projects for Mindanaoans and indigenous peoples. He is the chairman of the inter-agency Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC).

He was miles away from the Senate probe in Manila but there was no escaping the heat. “Hacienda Binay,” the 350-hectare farm in Batangas that he supposedly owns, was the hottest issue that dogged him throughout ambush and radio interviews. (READ: Mrs Binay’s royal taste? ‘Kew Gardens,’ aircon piggery)

In his bailiwick Mindanao, where he got the votes that allowed him to defeat Manuel Roxas II in 2010, the Vice President addressed a lot of the issues. He denied ownership of the Batangas farm and the alleged shares in Manila Polo Club. He scoffed at the invitation for him to attend the Senate probe, which he lambasted as a political demolition job.

“I wont dignify them of their actions,” Binay told reporters at the North Cotabato Capitol when asked about the invitation to attend the probe. 

Binay said he’d rather work on his advocacies. “Yun ang isang purpose kung bakit kami nag-iikot. (It’s one of the purposes of going around.) We are selling the benefits ng members ng Pag-IBIG na hindi nila nagagamit (who are not using their benefits). At saka ‘yung sa NHA, para du’n sa mga nakatira sa mga danger zones, at tsaka mga informal settlers at mga IPs (We’re also here for the National Housing Authority to look into the situation of those living in danger zones, the informal settlers, and the indigenous peoples),” Binay said in Koronadal.

With Pacquiao

Binay started in General Santos with boxing champion and Sarangani Representative Emmanuel “Manny” Pacquiao and then jumped to Sarangani to turn over P10-million worth of checks for the construction of housing projects for indigenous peoples.

He inaugurated a senior citizens’ office and turned over wheelchairs in South Cotabato and North Cotabato. He enjoyed a boodle fight in Kidapawan and also attended a wake of an OFW in General Santos. He attended a number of town hall meetings in different provinces. (READ: Pacquiao: A President Binay will understand the poor’s plight)

But the Senate probe dominated questions from the media. In Kidapawan, he laughed at the claim of former Vice Mayor Ernesto Mercado, a former ally, that he owns the Hacienda Binay.

“Nakakatawa po iyon. Matagal nang isyu iyon. Dumami na nga nang dumami. Dati nga 150, tapos naging 200, ngayon naging 300 na. Pinaliwanag na po namin iyan. Hindi po ako ang may-ari niyan. Nananaginip na lang iyan. Ang nakakalungkot nga lang po, hindi na yata kasama sa iimbestigahan iyan. Ang iimbestigahan supposed to be is yung alleged overpriced building. Kita ninyo pulitikang-pulitika ito, personalan na. Hindi naman po criminal case ito,” he told reporters in an interview at the Kidapawan City Hall.

In Lagao town in General Santos, Binay scoffed at the senators’ invitation for him to attend the probe. “Mayroon pa akong mas importanteng gawin. Ang trabaho ko sa OFW at pabahay.” (I have more important things to do. My job is OFWs and housing.)

He also denied that he has undeclared shares in the Manila Polo Club. As vice president, he said he was only granted an honorary membership.

Mindanao as priority

The Vice President also confirmed in interviews his candidacy in the 2016 presidential polls and cast doubts on the Pulse Asia survey that showed his big decline in presidential polls.

If he wins as president in 2016, Binay said he would declare Minanao a priority. “Aba eh, ito talaga, prioriting priority to ah,” he told Bombo Radyo Koronadal. 

He ended his trip in Cotabato, where 29 chieftains of the Bagóbô-Tagabawà tribe in Makilala town Cotabato conferred on him the title of Matan’am Datu (wise leader). The title signifies that around 14,000 members of the Bagóbô-Tagabawà tribe in 29 barangays in Makilala now recognize him as their leader, a press release explained. – Carmela Fonbuena/Rappler.com