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The United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) yesterday warned that critics of Vice President Jejomar Binay plan to disrupt the visit to the Philippines of Pope Francis in January, by continuing their attacks on the country’s second highest official. |
Binay’s critics, according to UNA interim president Rep. Tobias Tiangco, want to “exploit” the period of preparation for the papal visit to embarrass the vice vresident and put him in a spot.
“We know that part of their plan is to disrupt the visit of His Holiness, the Pope, and convert it into another forum for politics,” Tiangco said. “That’s how desperate they are. They will continue peddling lies and fooling the public at a time when we should all be focusing on how to be Christians,” he added.
Binay, in a radio interview also yesterday, said demolition efforts of his detractors are meant to pull down his high survey ratings.
He added that part of the “grand plan” of his critics are to destroy and eventually weaken UNA.
The vice president expressed belief that his detractors will continue to spread lies to make him look bad in the eyes of the public.
“The attacks against us will not stop even if they know that their accusations are all lies. But why are they doing this? To destroy our reputation and make us look bad to the public,” Binay said. He appealed to the public to wait for the outcome of the cases filed against him in court.
“I appeal to you to follow closely what will happen to the cases. These cases just feed the surveys. They will cloud your perception, and so my ratings will go down. What is being done by the senate is aimed at destroying me. This is nothing but a smear job. This is a smear job aimed at people’s perception and judgment,” the vice president said.
Being charged in court, according to him, does not mean that the person indicted is already guilty.
The vice president had vowed to confront his accusers in court after a plunder complaint was filed against him and his son, Makati City Mayor Erwin Jejomar “Junjun” Binay Jr, over the allegedly overpriced Makati Science High School Building.
“That case is just an accusation. If someone is really mad at you, he will ruin your name. He will file a complaint but it does not mean that you are guilty of any wrongdoing,” he said.
In a recent Pulse Asia survey, Binay’s rating dropped by five percentage points but he remained in the top position among those seen as candidates for president in the 2016 elections.
Binay’s camp earlier said the “marginal” 5% drop proved his detractors wrong and showed that the people are aware of these critics’ “political
posturing.”
