FOR the first time, opposition United Nationalist Alliance standard bearer Vice President Binay, cut short his Ilocos sorties Thursday, not to rest, but to prepare for Sunday’s second round of presidential debate in Cebu.
But the debate preparation was again cut short because Binay decided to barnstorm Cebu starting Friday, or two days ahead of the debate and the day after.
As the Visayas leg of campaign sorties begin, Binay will proceed to Siquijor and Dumaguete after Cebu.
Binay skipped barnstorming Ilocos Norte to meet its governor, Imee Marcos, the sister of independent vice presidential candidate Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
Binay had visited the provinces of Pangasinan, La Union, Benguet and Ilocos Sur from March 11 to March 16. He was supposed to visit La Union on March 17 to cap the Ilocos region sorties but had to fly back to Manila.
On Thursday, Binay was “incommunicado” from journalists, who wanted to know what the vice president was up to.
Binay would again make a public appearance from March 18 to 21 in Cebu, then March 22 to 23 in Siquijor and Dumaguete.
Binay will be meeting and debating with his four opponents on Palm Sunday during the debate in UP-Cebu on March 20.
But Binay was able to attend to motorcades and whistlestops in Ilocos Sur, with Gov. Ryan Singson, the son of former Ilocos Sur Gov. Chavit Singson.
“Don’t I have the right to go back to Manila on an emergency? I have to set my priorities. That’s what you call management. You know how to handle your priorities,” Binay said before he left for Manila.
Binay said he need not prepare for the debate because the truth is on his side.
“I don’t need to prepare because I would tell the truth. We have to distinguish that what my opponents are doing to me now are all baseless. Panay bintang, bintang. Only the courts can say which is the truth or not or that you had done something wrong. The courts have yet to rule on that,” Binay said.
Binay said among the issues to be tackled in the presidential debate is corruption and that he was not intimidated by it, even if it carries criminal liability because the allegations against him were false and were meant only to demolish his credibility and undermine his chances of winning the presidency.
Also for the first time, Binay’s running mate Senator Gregorio Honasan was allowed to separate from the UNA slate to concentrate on his own campaign to improve on his rating.
The tailing Honasan, who Binay named to be his crime czar, has been tagging along campaigning for Binay and not for himself.
Confident that Binay’s core votes had already been secured, the UNA leadership decided to let go of Honasan in the meantime to catch up on his own campaign sorties, according to UNA president Navotas Rep. Toby Tiangco.
“Dapat relax lang si VP kasi wala naman talagang dapat paghandaan doon sa debate dahil hindi naman ito exam na dapat may babasahin ka, may mememoryahin ka. Ang pinakaimportante lang naman dito [ay] ano ang nagawa ni VP at ano ang plano ni VP,” Tiangco said.
“’Yong nagawa niya, he will just narrate kung ano ang nagawa niya bilang public servant, even before being a public servant, at ‘yong gagawin niya. Alam naman niya kung ano ang plano niya para sa ating bansa kung siya ay papalarin na maging Pangulo. Wala naman talagang preparation dito,” he added.
UNA spokesman Mon Ilagan said Binay has been preparing since Day 1 of the campaign.
“His long experience in the government sector and proven track record makes him confident. He is in high spirits but of course he is also preparing well,” Ilagan said.
Despite his busy schedule attending to provincial sorties, Ilagan said Binay was making sure he reads his notes and materials “almost everyday during his free time or break time in the sorties.”
“The reading time is to familiarize himself with the key words and policy statements. No dull moment, no wasting of time as far as he is concerned,” Ilagan said.
He added the Vice President wanted improvements for the second part of the debate such as longer hours for each candidate to lay down his or her platforms of government, reduced commercials and possibly avoid personal attacks from other candidates.
The TV5 network, which sponsors the debate, along with the Philippine Star, vowed to improve on the next series.
Tiangco said Binay has vowed to make his voice louder in the next round but that the TV5 has promised to make adjustments on the volume of his voice.