Palace downplays survey favoring Binay in 2016 polls

Malacañang downplayed results of the latest Pulse Asia survey where Vice President Jejomar Binay emerged as the runaway winner if polls were held today, with expected Liberal Party (LP) presidential standard-bearer Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II trailing behind.

“For the record, wala pang inaanunsyo si Presidente (no announcement yet from the President),” presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda pointed out to Palace reporters in a news briefing yesterday.

Lacierda is not a member of the ruling LP but he served as the party’s spokesman during the campaign in the May 2010 presidential elections, where Roxas lost to Binay in the vice presidential race.

Roxas is LP president-onleave.

Palace insiders claim Aquino will formally announce his choice for the 2016 presidential elections in November this year.

Roxas was Aquino’s running mate in the 2010 presidential polls and they ran under the LP banner.

“The Pulse Asia survey is certainly of interest to those who are observing the 2016 presidential elections. But we are focused on addressing the needs of our countrymen,” Lacierda stressed.

“We have 792 days left in this administration to address those concerns. We are currently engaged in governance,” said Lacierda. “And so, we need to make sure that all the reforms that President Aquino wants to implement and institutionalize should happen before 2016, and that’s the focus of our concern right now,” he added. “We are focused on engaging our countrymen. We are focused on addressing the needs, the problems of the nation.”