Sen. Honasan NO SHOW at Oath-Taking - Everything CebuEverything Cebu

In an article in of the Manila Bulletin, Senator Gregorio “Gringo” Honasan’s non-appearance at the event was described as a “black-hole.” Apparently, the senator had not yet given any official decision as to whether he was accepting the offer of running for Vice President in the 2016 elections alongside Binay for the position of President. The announcement of the tandem was made days ago. Binay’s party had already named the tandem as “BinGo,” a combination of their names, in spite of not receiving confirmation from the senator.

This did not stop Binay’s party from putting up tarpaulins with images of the two of the venue. Over a phone interview with GMA News, UNA President Navotas Representative Toby Tiangco said, “In the first place, he never committed to show up in Cebu, so I don’t know why they were expecting him there.” Honasan was presented the offer only last Monday, October 5, 2015,. He requested for more time to ask for the opinions of family members concerning the matter.

Vice President (VP) Binay had originally approached Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr. Commenting on the progress of their talks when they were ongoing, Binay said, ““We are very close to having a decision already… It’s 93%.” Ultimately, he did not succeed in convincing Marcos, Jr. Time is running out for Binay to finalize a running mate. Filing of candidacy will start next week, October 12, 2015, Monday. This hasn’t stopped Vice President Binay from promoting the tandem and creating hype. He has been quoted of saying “UNA (United Nationalist Alliance) na, BinGo pa!”

Meanwhile, both the Liberal Party and Senator Grace Poe’s camp have been vying to have Pacquiao. The athlete-and-congressman has not given any final decision yet. As the 2016 elections nears, you can feel the activities pick up pace. As responsible citizens, it’s best to keep a close eye on the latest news in order to make sound decisions. One vote can change the direction of the elections. There are roughly 7 months until then – in that time, anything can happen.