Vice President Jejomar Binay walks among his supporters at the Makati City hall on Monday. People gathered at the city hall grounds to show their support for the older Binay and his son, Makati Mayor Junjun Binay, who was earlier served another suspension by the Ombudsman. (MNS photo)
MANILA (Mabuhay) — The camp of Vice President Jejomar Binay slammed Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda for making an issue out of the allegedly required attendance of students in Binay’s “true” State of the Nation Address (Sona) at the Cavite State University (CvSU) last August 3.
In a statement, Office of the Vice President Media Affairs head Joey Salgado said that government officials and Cabinet secretaries should have filed an official leave when they attended the endorsement of Interior Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas as the administration coalition’s presidential bet at Club Filipino last July 30.
“If Secretary Lacierda continues to make an issue out of the Cavite State University students attending the True Sona of Vice President Binay, we will remind him that they held their ‘Gathering of Friends’ in Club Filipino during office hours but Cabinet Secretaries and other government officials were in attendance. We can only hope that they were on official leave,” Lacierda said.
He also asked Lacierda to take the chill pill as Binay’s name “makes his blood rise.”
“If Secretary Lacierda loves his coffee, perhaps he should cut back, as the mere mention of [the] Vice President Binay’s name apparently makes his blood rise. His anger gets the better of him. Chill, Sir,” Salgado added.
Lacierda posted on his social media accounts a copy of a memo from the CvSU President Divinia Chavez which required third and fourth year students to attend a “student assembly” which turned out to be Binay’s “true” Sona.
The presidential spokesperson asked Chavez to explain why she required students to listen to Binay’s speech.
Meanwhile, the vice president’s camp said that the Palace spokesperson has failed to give a “rational” reply to the assertions made by Binay in his counter-Sona.
“We hope that Secretary Lacierda does not hide behind his ridiculous responses. What he should do is admit the truth: he does not have a rational reply to everything that Vice President Binay has said, because that was the true state of the nation,” he said. (MNS)