CEBU CITY, Cebu—Vice President Jejomar Binay rejected calls for Friday for President Benigno Aquino III to resign, saying he intended to run for president in 2016 with former senator Panfilo Lacson as a possible running mate.
In an interview with reporters here, Binay also said he welcomed the prospect of Davao Mayor Rodrigo Duterte entering the race as a “very qualified” opponent.
“I don’t want the President to resign. You know, I am vice president and you know I am a candidate for the presidency in 2016. Let us just wait. I am hoping and praying that the President will overcome this problem very soon,” Binay said, after handing out P20,000 in cash benefits from the Pag-IBIG Fund to the families of slain Special Action Force commandos PO1 Windel Candano and PO1 Romeo Cembron, both from Cebu.
The Vice President said the cash benefit came from the accumulated savings and dividends of thedeceased in Pag-IBIG, as well as their death benefits.
Binay said he supported efforts to raise the hazard pay of police officers in light of the Mamasapano clash in which 44 police commandos were killed.
“Lacson is being considered. Lacson, among others,” said Binay in reply to a question about his running mate for 2016.
In response to another question, he said he thought Duterte was highly qualified to run for president.
Former North Cotabato governor Manny Piñol, a close Duterte ally, laughed off what he called Binay’s overconfidence.
“I believe the question should be can Binay reverse his free fall?”
Political analyst and newspaper columnist Anol Mongaya agreed.
“Binay’s refusal to answer the allegations against him has eroded public trust. His visits to Cebu are obviously not part of his work as vice president. He is clearly campaigning prematurely. Cebuanos are not stupid to believe his boodle fights are part of his work as vice president,” Mongaya said in a text message.
Also on Friday, Binay’s office issued a statement saying that all-out war must be avoided despite the public outcry over the Mamasapano incident.
Binay also stressed that any peace agreement should be in consonance with the Constitution.
“I am hoping and praying that we can have lasting peace,” Binay said.
“We must avoid war, but it must be peace with justice.”
Binay also called for the formation of an independent fact-finding commission to investigate the Mamasapano massacre to dispel doubts of a government cover-up.