Binay to overcome attacks – Erap

MANILA, Philippines - Vice President Jejomar Binay will be able to overcome the political attacks against him and his family, Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada said yesterday.

“He will overcome it all. You can see that on his ratings. He maintained it and he is still on top of everybody,” Estrada said on the sidelines of the Vice Mayors’ League of the Philippines summit on children at the Manila Hotel.

“The attacks against Vice President Binay are politics. It is all intended to boost the political plans of his detractors,” he added.

Binay’s popularity ratings in recent surveys dropped to a record low amid allegations of corruption against him and his family, but he remains a top performer among government officials.

Estrada said he believes that the attacks against Binay would eventually die down.

The former president is also not convinced that Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II is behind the smear campaign against Binay, as some have hinted at.

Estrada said he could vouch for Roxas, who served as trade secretary during his presidency.

“He (Roxas) was my former Cabinet member. I don’t believe that he has something to do with it. There are some, but not Secretary Roxas,” he said of his former trade secretary.

While Binay has declared his intention to run for president in 2016, Roxas is widely seen as the administration’s candidate, although he has not said he would seek the presidency in 2016.