Binay’s pitch for Honasan

It seems that Vice President Jejomar Binay wants another “teddy bear,” should he win the presidency.

The Vice President already has one, according to sources in the Binay camp – his son, dismissed Makati mayor Jejomar “Junjun” Binay Jr. The younger Binay is not only in charge of the campaign sorties, but also doubles as his father’s source of comfort; someone to de-stress with during breaks in the rigorous campaign. (READ: Who are the people in Team Jejomar Binay?)

In San Rafael town in Bulacan on Thursday, March 3, Binay indicated that he  needs another source of comfort – or one less thing to worry about – if he is elected president: a vice president who would not make him lose sleep.

“Kailangan ko po ang isang tao na katulad ni Greg Honasan na puwede po akong matulog nang mahimbing (I need someone like Greg Honasan who will let me sleep soundly at night),” said the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) standard-bearer.

He also reiterated that he needs Honasan to be his “crime czar.”

While Binay is topping surveys on presidential bets with Senator Grace Poe,  Honasan is alone at the bottom of the polls on vice presidential candidates,  with only 4% voter preference rating.

Would the Vice President be as comfortable with those leading the pack, like Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr? After all, BInay initially wanted to team up with him but the the son of the late dictator rejected him in favor of Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago.

What about Senator Francis Escudero? He supported Binay in 2010 but they had a falling out. They only spoke in 2012, when the senator asked Binay if he and Grace Poe could be part of the United Nationalist Alliance senatorial ticket. The gap widened when Escudero and Poe, who were also administration coalition candidates, skipped UNA sorties, as required by the ruling party.

In an interview with Rappler last year, Escudero said Binay would be the second most difficult presidential candidate for him to work with. (READ: A long way from ‘Noybi’: Chiz weighs in on Binay)

There’s also the administration candidate, Camarines Sur Representative Leni Robredo, and Binay’s staunchest critics in the Senate, Alan Pater Cayetano and Antonio Trillanes IV.

‘Rambotito’ and Gringo

Binay also told the San Rafael crowd that he and Honasan used to be on opposite sides of the fence during the administration of the late president Corazon Aquino, but were now united in their anti-poverty advocacy.

Binay and Honasan fought the Marcos dictatorship. Binay was a pro-bono human rights lawyer for political detainees during martial law. (READ: 9 things to know about Jejomar Binay)

Honasan, meanwhile, was the aide-de-camp of Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile, and charismatic leader of the Reform the Armed Forces Movement. (READ: 10 things to know about Gringo Honasan)

Enrile and Honasan were among those who plotted a mutiny against Marcos. Their foiled plan eventually led to the 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution that ousted the dictator.

During the first Aquino administration, Binay, then Makati chief, earned the moniker “Rambotito” for wearing army fatigues and lugging an Uzi submachine gun during the Honasan-led bloody coup attempts against the country’s first female chief executive. – Mara Cepeda/Rappler.com