Binay will attend Noy’s final SONA as opposition leader

If Vice President Jejomar Binay attends the sixth and final State of the Nation Address (SONA) of President Aquino later this month, it will be his first, since 2010, as an opposition leader.

In an interview with reporters in Bacolod last Thursday, however, Binay did not categorically say whether he will be present on July 27.

“Why? I attend the SONA every year,” the Vice President said in Filipino when asked if he would still attend the SONA after having resigned his posts in the Cabinet last month and launching tirades against the Aquino administration.

Binay ran and won in 2010 against Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II, who was Aquino’s running mate under the Liberal Party.

But he remained allied with the administration and had a housing portfolio with a Cabinet rank. He was also the presidential adviser on the concerns of overseas Filipino workers.

Binay resigned from the Cabinet last month because he said he could no longer stomach the administration’s neglect of the poor and persecution of its political opponents.

Binay said he was surprised that his attendance at the SONA has become a public issue.

“You know that (attending the SONA) is an invitation of Congress. That is not mandatory,” he said.

Binay also refused to disclose if he would deliver a counter-SONA, which the opposition usually does to present their own version of the state of the nation.

“We don’t want to call it counter-SONA,” was all the Vice President said.

Binay launched the opposition United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) party last July 1, during which he called the Aquino administration “palpak” (inept) and “manhid” (insensitive).

At least 8,700 policemen will be deployed to maintain peace and order during the SONA, as the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) imposes a no-leave policy on July 27 for its 18,000 personnel. “Yes, all police personnel of the NCRPO are not allowed to take a leave of absence on that date,” said NCRPO chief information officer Supt. Annie Mangelen. Mangelen said the five police districts under the NCRPO would be augmented by Civil Disturbance Management (CDM) personnel from the support units and regional police offices in Luzon. Meanwhile, various groups are preparing to mount a big rally, to coincide with the SONA, to tackle issues related to the economy, foreign policy and human rights. Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) secretary-general Renato Reyes said while Aquino would trumpet his “so-called achievements” during the SONA, the people will take it to the streets to remind him of his accountability even when his term expires.