PALACE: MAR ROXAS AND BINAY CAN WORK TOGETHER
MANILA, JANUARY 15, 2011 (STAR) By Aurea Calica – Malacañang sees no problem with two possible contenders for the 2016 presidential elections in the Cabinet of President Aquino.
Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said Vice President Jejomar Binay and former senator Manuel Roxas II could co-exist being both professionals.
The President said he would appoint Roxas as chief troubleshooter by June, the end of the ban on the appointment of officials who ran in the last May elections.
Binay defeated Roxas, Aquino's running mate, in last year's polls.
Valte brushed aside speculations that there might be tension with the presence of the two and that one might have to go, eventually.
"I don't think there should be worries about the working relationship because the President is a professional, the Vice President is a professional and so is former senator Mar Roxas. This is just work," Valte said over radio dzRB.
"And we can see in them that they are headed toward the same direction and this is really to work for the good of the country. We do not expect change in the working relationship," Valte said.
Maguindanao Rep. Simeon Datumanong had warned that Binay might become the first casualty in the Aquino administration once Roxas takes on his post as chief "troubleshooter."
Roxas heads the Liberal Party and is allied with the Balay faction, one of two supposed factions within Aquino's camp while Binay is identified with the Samar group.
Binay, who now chairs the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council, initially did not want to take any Cabinet post because, he said, he could no longer be part of the LP team that was behind Aquino since he won as president.
But Aquino offered Binay various positions and the Vice President eventually joined the official family.
During the campaign, there had been allegations that Aquino and Binay secretly supported each other.
Members of the Samar group, where Sen. Francis Escudero also belonged, reportedly worked for the "Noy-Bi" tandem.
Escudero openly campaigned for Aquino and Binay after a reported bickering with Roxas and his camp over internal issues during the campaign.
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Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
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