United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) vice presidential bet Senator Gregorio “Gringo” Honasan II downplayed on Wednesday the endorsement of the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) for Senators Grace Poe and Francis “Chiz” Escudero.
“Wala naman tayong political party system. Walang impact sa amin ‘yon dahil ang pinopromote namin ‘yong plataporma ng UNA,” UNA vice presidential candidate Senator Gregorio Honasan II told reporters at the sidelines of the party’s sortie in Baler, Aurora.
He said that UNA is focused on boosting the candidacies of its candidates for the May 2016 elections, especially that of its standard-bearer, Vice President Jejomar C. Binay.
Binay, Honasan and the rest of UNA’s senatorial slate has taken their campaign to the province of Aurora where they vowed to rid the country of its poverty and security problems.
A Binay administration would be more interested in reversing the failed programs of the present administration, particularly its tactic of underspending which the Vice President has earlier slammed, saying it left the government’s savings open to abuses.
“Baka ito ang nangyayari, selective underspending. ‘Pag gustong gastusan, ginagastusan. Ang mahirap, which we do not want to raise na issue because it’s the eve of the May 2016 elections, is that these resources, that are being held back, are being used for partisan political purposes. In short, electioneering,” Honasan pointed out.
“It’s a violation of our election laws. Kung totoo ‘yan, it’s doing damage to this rule of one man, one vote. Undue advantage ‘yon. (The issue) is ‘yong selective use, selective underspending,” he added.
Honasan maintained that keeping in mind Vice President Jojo Binay’s vision for the country was important than endorsements from other political parties for opponents of UNA which he said had “no effect whatsoever.”
“There are varied pronouncements and it does not really affect our focus. Our focus is to touch base with our people, the electorate, especially the young voters and then explain the platform (of UNA),” said the senator.