VP chickens out! IT’S FINAL, BINAY BACKS OUT OF DEBATE WITH TRILLANES

By Manny Pinol

In what could be the strongest proof that he fears being confronted face to face with issues of corruption and unexplained wealth, embattled Vice President Jejomar Binay has backed out of the scheduled Nov. 27 debate with the swashbuckling former mutineer and young Senator Antonio Trillanes.

Ironically, it was Binay himself who challenged the sharp-tongued Trillanes to a debate, an apparent attempt to project the image that he was ready to confront his accusers.

Earlier, Binay, who declared that he would attend the Senate investigation if it was the Blue Ribbon Mother Committee which would invite him, also skipped the hearing even after Blue Ribbon chairman Senator TG Guingona promised that he would be treated with respect due the second highest official of the country.

Binay, his son Mayor Erwin Jejomar Binay, his wife, Elenita, and several Makati officials are subjects of a senate investigation following allegations that several government buildings in Makati were overpriced.

The Senate investigation later discovered a 350-hectare ranch in Rosario, Batangas which witnesses said is actually owned by the Binays but is claimed by businessman Antonio Tiu as his.

The withdrawal from the debate by Vice President Binay could be the last nail in the coffin of his boyhood dream to become President of the Philippines.

With his numbers plumeting, this latest setback is expected to pull him down to a pit beyond politcal resurrection.

Here is the Philippine Daily Inquirer report on Binay’s withdrawal from the debate as reported by Nestor Corrales:

MANILA, Philippines—Vice President Jejomar Binay has backed out from his scheduled public debate with Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, saying he does not want to appear “oppressive and opportunistic.”

Binay made the announcement during his 72nd birthday celebration at the Philippine Marines headquarters in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig.

“It’s final, it’s final. My decision won’t change,” Binay said in Filipino during an interview aired on radio.

Binay explained that he doesn’t want to look like he is taking advantage of Trillanes, who is not a lawyer unlike him.

“Ang dahilan ko mga kababayan e dahil sa marami na akong naririnig na ako ay ganito…ako ay mahusay, ako ay naging debater, ako ay abogado, e sobra na ‘tong mga sinabi niyang ganyan na kumpirmadong sinabi niya, e ayaw ko naman hong maging..ang pagkakalilala niyo sa aking mga kababayan ay mapang-api, mapagsamantala…so tama na po ‘yun,” he said.

(The reason why I am withdrawing is I have heard comments that I am already a good and experienced debater that comes with my being a lawyer. He has also been saying things as if they were already confirmed. I don’t want to appear oppressive and opportunistic, so I am backing out.)

Binay has repeatedly declined the Senate invitation to appear before the Blue Ribbon subcommittee hearing corruption allegations against him.

The vice president, however, challenged Trillanes to a public debate so he could air his side.

The public debate between the two officials was scheduled by the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP) for November 27.