Vice presidential candidate Jejomar Binay has dared his closest rival, Sen. Mar Roxas, to be man enough and “stop clutching at the skirt” of his Liberal Party standard-bearer, Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III.
“Be man enough. Stop hanging on to Noynoy’s skirt,” Binay said as the word war between the two vice presidential rivals heated up with the release on Thursday of the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey which showed Binay wiping out what had seemed like an insurmountable lead by Roxas.
The latest SWS survey showed Binay and Roxas tied for the No. 1 spot with 37 percent each with Loren Legarda dropping 12 percentage points to third with 12 points.
Binay, in a press statement on Thursday, challenged the senator to own up to his support for the Expanded Value Added Tax (EVAT) law which imposed a 12-percent tax on food and other essential goods.
Binay also hit back at Roxas for claiming “wala akong baho (I have no secrets).” The Makati mayor said on the contrary, the LP senator has not been candid about his vote for EVAT in 2005.
‘Be man enough’
“Mar Roxas should be man enough to stand on his own track record and not clutch at the skirt of Noynoy Aquino,” he said. “He wants to bask in Noynoy’s aura, but only when it is advantageous to him.”
The Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino candidate described the attacks against him by Roxas and his camp “as desperate moves by a candidate who is used to having things his way.”
“Roxas assumed wrongly that he is entitled to the vice presidency. Now that the people are telling him otherwise, he is resorting to the negative campaigning that he had condemned in the past,” he said.
“The problem with Mar Roxas is that when Noynoy’s survey numbers were down, he kept a safe distance from his running mate. But now that Noynoy’s numbers are up, and I have managed to cut his lead substantially, he wants to be seen with Noynoy every time,” he said.
In contrast, Binay said he has always stood by his running mate, former President Joseph Estrada, even during the so-called Edsa II uprising which removed Estrada from the presidency.
Bond with Aquinos
“Roxas is trying to break my bond with the Aquino family. Yes, it is true that we have parted ways in this election, but not even a Mar Roxas can break the bond between me and the Aquino family,” he said.
On Friday, Binay fired another salvo, this time accusing Roxas of pressuring television networks into stopping the airing of Binay’s commercial which purportedly showed Roxas applauding President Macapagal-Arroyo during the signing of the EVAT law.
Roxas had accused Binay of using manipulated images in the ad to mislead viewers into believing he was applauding Ms Arroyo’s signing of the EVAT law when in fact the footage was that of the signing of a different law—the Cheap Medicines Act—which Roxas authored.
Binay challenged Roxas to tell the television networks to air the ad “and let the people decide if it is truthful.”
“Everything in that image is factual. We said he applauded. We said he was an ally of Ms Arroyo on the EVAT. That’s true. We never said the photo was taken during the signing of the EVAT law,” Binay said.
Binay said he found it surprising that one network aired the ad, titled “Kalyo,” for one night, but decided to stop airing the following day. Another network refused to air it.
“Is it true that pressure was exerted on the networks? Roxas should answer this,” he said.
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