Binay zeroes in on gut issues

PAMPANGA, Philippines — Vice President Jejomar Binay goes sectoral in his campaign in vote-rich Pampanga on Monday, April 4.

Will this be enough to bring him back on top of election polls?

Mara Cepeda reports. – Rappler.com

Three things make Vice President Jejomar Binay’s latest visit to Pampanga unique from his usual sorties – a speech before factory workers, a lunch at the home of an overseas Filipino worker, and a visit to two relocation sites. 

First stop for the United Nationalist Alliance standard-bearer is the processed foods factory of Pampanga’s Best, where he tells about 700 factory workers about his plans to abolish income tax for those earning P30,000 and below. 

JEJOMAR BINAY, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Why won’t we remove it? Let’s stop collecting income tax. The government has the capability to do that. It’s not true that the government would lose a lot if we abolish income tax.

He then eats lunch at the house of Villamor Austria, whose wife Imelda was an OFW who passed away in a hit-and-run incident near the Macau Tower in 2014.

Binay, former presidential adviser on OFW affairs, helped bring back Imelda’s remains to the Philippines. 

VILLAMOR AUSTRIA: He will win here. He is strong here. Even if local officials support other candidates, we’re still for Binay.

The Vice President also stopped by the Northville Resettlement Area in Santo Tomas and the San Vicente Resettlement Area in Apalit.

Asked why he is zeroing in on sectoral issues, Binay says he only wants to remind people of what he has already done to help Filipinos.

JEJOMAR BINAY, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: These vists are just a reiteration of what I have been doing. I visited an OFW dahil because in my old position, I was tasked to help OFWs. Earlier, I talked to workers. It’s only right for me to explain to them that their income tax should be removed.

It’s a timely change in the Binay campaign, whose chances of victory in Pampanga is anyone’s guess in this 4-cornered fight.

Former President and now reelectionist Pampanga Second District Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is believed to be backing Binay, but Arroyo’s ally Governor Lilia Pineda already endorsed Liberal Party standard-bearer Mar Roxas.

Angeles City Mayor Ed Pamintuan is also supporting Davao Mayor Rodrigo Duterte. 

Governor Pineda’s daughter Lubao Mayor Mylene Pineda-Cayabyab is also seen with Binay, but the Vice President clarifies she only joined him for lunch out of courtesy. 

OFWs, wage workers and calamity victims – the past years, these are the faces of the Filipino. 

In the latest Pulse Asia survey, Binay ties with Duterte in second place, trailing behind frontrunner Senator Grace Poe. 

Will highlighting his narrative as champion of the masses help Binay weeks away from the elections?

Mara Cepeda, Rappler, Pampanga