Binay to Poe: We are not desperate

MANILA, Philippines – “Are you afraid of Grace Poe?” Vice President Jejomar Binay answered the question with a laugh.

A week after an emotional, intense exchange of words between his camp and the neophyte senator, Binay pointedly avoided questions on Poe in a wide-ranging media forum, even walking away from reporters who again brought up the topic after the briefing.

The opposition’s presidential bet was pressed to respond to a question Poe herself asked after his political allies publicly challenged her qualifications for higher office even before she declares any political plan for the 2016 elections.

Poe asked last week: “Sa totoo lang, bakit kayo natatakot sa akin?” (Honestly, why are you afraid of me?)

Now, Binay answered, “Sa talagang sa sinasabing desperado kami, ‘di kami desperado. Kung malalaman mo lang, ang daming gustong sumali sa amin.” (On the issue that we are desperate, we are not desperate. If you only know, so many want to join us.)

Binay did not explain why his close ally, party president Navotas Representative Tobias “Toby” Tiangco of the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA), accused Poe of falling short of the 10-year constitutional residency requirement for president and vice president. Tiangco said Poe’s 2013 certificate of candidacy (COC) showed she had only lived in the Philippines for 6 years and 6 months at the time, indicating that she shall have lived in the country for only 9 years and 6 months by 2016.

The Vice President said he did not know Tiangco would make the claim public in a move that netizens and political observers said backfired on his team. Legal experts also called Tiangco’s logic flawed, arguing that jurisprudence showed that the COC is not the sole basis of residency.

Instead of sanctioning Tiangco for attacking Poe supposedly without his permission, Binay even praised the congressman.

“Si Toby ay isang tunay na kaibigan,” Binay said. (Toby is a good friend.)

UNA’s standard-bearer said that he is not threatened even if Poe decides to run for president. The neophyte senator is seen as a challenger to Binay’s candidacy, ranking second to him in election surveys even after just a two-year stint in the Senate. Binay remains the front runner but corruption allegations bog down his candidacy.

“I announced my candidacy after the 2010 elections,” Binay said. “Maigi ang maraming kandidato para maraming mapagpilian.” (It’s good to have many candidates to voters have many choices.)

Binay said that many politicians want to join UNA but he discouraged them from jumping ship now, supposedly to avoid political persecution from the administration.

“Sabi ko huwag muna. Baka kayo ay mahabla. ‘Di kayo mabigyan ng assistance so ‘tsaka na lang,” he said. (I said don’t join us now. You might get sued. You might not be given assistance, so better do it later.)

‘Someone might bring it to court’

Besides Tiangco, Binay’s spokesman JV Bautista last week criticized Poe for another legal issue: citizenship. Bautista said that, as a foundling, Poe was “stateless,” and will have to prove that she is a natural-born Filipino citizen qualified to run for president or vice president.

Yet the attacks highlighted Poe’s soap opera-like story, drawing public sympathy for her. The senator also deftly parried the criticism by highlighting the plight of adopted children.

She said last week: “Ibig bang sabihin nila na ang isang bata na pinulot ay hindi na pwedeng mangarap na manilbihan sa isang mataas na posisyon?” (Do they mean that a child who is a foundling can no longer dream to have a high position?)

Binay said that the legal issues surrounding Poe’s possible candidacy should be resolved in court. He said someone might just file a case.

“‘Di natin mamalayan baka si Ichu siguro masama sa paghabla,” he joked, referring to the media forum’s host, journalist Marichu Villanueva of The Philippine Star. (We do not know, maybe Ichu will be among those who will file a case.)

Later asked by reporters if his camp will challenge Poe’s qualifications in court, Binay said, “Hindi kami mag-aano.” (We will not do that.)

Binay again sought to minimize the backlash from his spokespersons’ actions by comparing his rags-to-riches story to Poe’s narrative.

“Ampon din ako eh. ‘Di ko hahamakin ang ampon,” Binay said. “Sa akin kasi noong buhay ang magulang ko, napapaliguan pa ako ng kasambahay. Teacher ang nanay ko; ang tatay ko, government employee.”

(I was also adopted. I will not mock an adopted child. When my parents were alive, we could afford a household to give me a bath. My mother was a teacher; my father, a government employee.)

Binay said that when his parents died, he too struggled with a hard life.

“Inihabilin ako sa kamag-anak ng tatay ko. Natuto ako maglaba, mamalengke, kumukuha ako ng kanin-baboy.” (When they died, I was left with the relative of my father. I learned how to do the laundry, go to the market, and to get scraps.) – Rappler.com