Senatorial aspirant Jejomar Binay on Monday urged fellow candidates in the May 9 elections to stop negative campaigning and instead focus on what needs to be done to help the country recover from the health crisis brought by COVID-19.
The former vice president appealed for a more positive tone among candidates and their supporters in the closing weeks of the campaign period.
“My appeal is to stop exchanging destructive words for the rest of the campaign period. It is not too late for us to make the tone of our campaign positive,” he said.
Binay, who is running for senator under the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA), said the focus should be on what needs to be done to help sectors affected by the pandemic.
“The coming years will not be easy, and it is important that we never lose our focus on what needs to be done to improve the lives of our countrymen who have been displaced by the pandemic,” he said.
“Partisan politics should take a backseat to the urgent task of rebuilding the country. We need to work together after the elections, but we cannot do that if the atmosphere has been poisoned by malice and animosity,” he added.
Binay said the heated political exchanges, both in public and in social media, have reached a point where even family members are being maligned.
“Even the loved ones of the candidates are being attacked especially on social media. This is unfortunate, and must be stopped,” he said.
Binay is a former Makati City mayor who first served under the administration of the late former President Corazon Aquino. He served the city from 1986 to 1998, and from 2001 until 2010, the year he became vice president.