Binay says Roxas planning to cheat in 2016; Mar laughs off VP’s charge

Vice President Jejomar Binay thinks the only way Interior Secretary Manuel "Mar" Roxas II can win a presidential election is to cheat and buy votes.
 

"Kung ikaw ba si Roxas, kung ang lamang ng kalaban mo milya-milya na, bakit pursigido ka pang lumaban? May alas siguro na tinatago....ang mandaya at mamimili ng boto," Binay said in a "24 Oras" report aired Thursday. 

 

In a recent Social Weather Stations survey, Roxas ranked third after Binay while Senator Grace Poe was the front-runner with 42 percent.

Roxas was the choice of 21 percent of the respondents.

 

The vice president was the guest speaker at the Philippine Public Health Association conference in Iloilo - a known bailiwick of Roxas and fellow Liberal Party stalwart Senate President Franklin Drilon.

 

Maria Luisa Orezca, national president of the PPHA, said Binay's presence in the province was not a welcome idea for Health Secretary Janette Garin, a close ally of President Benigno Aquino III and also a former congresswoman of Iloilo. 

 

"Bakit ko daw kinuha si vice president at bakit sa Iloilo pa. We invited the vice president because he's the vice president of the Philippines, nothing else. Wala kaming pulitika pulitika rito," she said. 

 

Garin admitted she admonished Orezca because she found it improper that government funds are being used to sponsor an activity with a potential election candidate as guest speaker. 

Roxas laughs off Binay's jab

 

Roxas hit back at Binay's statement, saying: "Natatawa na lang ako sa nababanggit ni Vice President Binay. Ang masasabi ko lang, ang isang sinungaling ay kapatid ng magnanakaw." 

 

Binay is facing allegations of corruption supposedly committed during his term as city mayor of Makati. 

 

In the same conference, Binay hit anew at the supposedly dubious citizenship of Senator Poe. 

 

"May American girl na tatakbo pero hindi siya qualified," he said. 

 

Poe had previously said that she renounced her American citizenship in 2010 before she was appointed chair of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB).
— Kathrina Charmaine Alvarez/JDS/NB, GMA News