Remulla in Leyte, says VP Binay will win

ALBUERA, LEYTE, Philippines  — Governor Juanito “Jonvic” C. Remulla Jr. of Cavite, who was here September 10, said United Nationalist Alliance party headed by Vice President Jejomar Binay is set to bare its complete senatorial slate soon, including their vice presidential candidate.

He categorically added that he would not be in the list, saying he is seeking for re-election instead.

He also expressed confidence that Binay will be the country’s next president, even in a one-on-one fight with Mar Roxas, the administration’s presumptive standard bearer.

In today’s politics, he said, “we don’t consider regional differentiation but rather demographic differentiation. The Vice President is very strong with the C, D and E crowd which comprises 74 percent. In that alone, mukhang panalo na.”

However, Remulla refused to categorically reveal who their candidates were, telling media “you will know more in a few days.”

As for the alleged corruption issues hurled at Binay, Remulla was nonchalant. He said “in politics, there are always issues, accusations. Squid tactics lang ‘yan. What is important is knowing the truth, integrity and the capacity of a person.”

He also said through time, the steam of anti-Binay sentiments have started to cool off.

“Habang tumatagal, nakikita ng tao ang totoo, ang integrity and capacity ni Vice President Binay,” whom he said was the man with the real heart for the masses.

He said Binay’s policies when he was still mayor of Makati were “always pro-people and pro-development” and he knew this first-hand because he worked for him before.

Governor Remulla was in this town to turn over three tractors and 200 sacks of corn grits, as Cavite’s donation to Albuera’s post-Yolanda recovery.  He was warmly received by Mayor Ramon dela Cerna Jr. and other town officials.

Arlene Rio Salvame-Villar, municipal accountant, said the governor was one of the first to help Albuera after Yolanda hit Leyte on November 8, 2013. He sent in four trucks of relief goods they gathered in Cavite directly, after hearing they were not getting enough relief as it was concentrated in Tacloban City.

She said Remulla personally called her up, after the provincial accountant told him of their plight, and the goods were shipped directly to the PASAR port in Isabel, Leyte, just about an hour away.

That was not the last time they received help from Cavite. Another batch of relief goods came on December 9, 2013, accompanied by the governor himself. It was also the time he made the promise that Cavite would help Albuera in its economic recovery by donating tractors.

In his speech, Remulla said the farmers of Albuera need help so that they can help feed the country. Cavite, he added, is fast giving way to industrialization, that its farmlands are constricting. Hence, the job of feeding the country now lies in provincial areas like Albuera, he said. (FREEMAN)