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Sinulog crowd boos Binay


Vice President Jejomar Binay on Sunday got a rude welcome from his supposedly bailiwick in the south after he was booed by the crowd who gathered for Sunday’s opening of the Sinulog festival in Cebu City.

Binay, who was summoned on stage by his ally, suspended Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama, had just greeted the audience, “Maayong buntag sa inyong tanan” (Good morning everyone), when the crowd started booing.

Footage taken by GMA News Cebu and aired by 24 Oras Weekend showed Binay raising his fist while saying, “Viva! Pit Senyor” when the crowd again started to jeer. He then turned his back and gave the microphone back to Rama.

Binay’s spokesman, Joey Salgado, in a statement claimed the incident was the handiwork of the local Liberal Party.

“VP Binay has been attending [the] Sinulog since 2010. His presence is nothing new. We have received reports it came from the LP contingent. If this is true, it's just unfortunate that they behaved the way they did. But we understand where they were coming from. Alam namin na masama ang kanilang loob dahil leading sa presidential survey si VP Binay, maging sa Visayas. Pero kung hindi nila kayang igalang si Vice President Binay, sana man lang iginalang nila ang okasyon,” Salgado said.

A spokesperson of Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III said the LP contingent who were with the governor were not yet inside the Cebu City Sports Complex when the incident happened.

Cebu Vice Gov. Agnes Magpale, a member of the LP, was however on stage when the incident took place.

Reacting to Salgado’s statement, Akbayan party-list Rep. Barry Gutierrez, spokesman of the Daang Matuwid coalition, said: “Ang laki pala ng LP contingent sa Sinulog. VP Binay's mouthpieces can keep telling themselves that, if it makes them feel better.” — APG, GMA News

 

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