Political association with VP Binay a ‘kiss of death’ –critic

Open about his plans to run for president in 2016, Vice President Jejomar Binay has been under fire from critics, who even say that being associated with him in politics is a "kiss of death."

Nicolas Enciso, a former barangay chairman in Makati City and one of the complainants in the plunder case against Binay and his son, Junjun, said, "Sana naman maging successful 'yung political party niya, pero the way I look at it, parang 'yung mga pulitikong kakapit diyan, parang kiss of death 'yan."

Enciso faced mediamen alone on Wednesday — the same day that Binay's camp presented documents of his finances through the years — without his co-complainant lawyer Renato Bondal, who needed to secure permission from the Witness Protection Program (WPP) before facing the media.

Enciso said he will also submit himself to the WPP because unidentified men have been keeping watch near his house ever since they filed the plunder complaint against Binay over the alleged overpricing in the Makati City Hall Building II project.

For his part, Cavite Gov. Jonvic Remulla, Binay's spokesperson on political affairs, said they believe he Vice President still has the confidence of the people.

"We just got our numbers in," he told reporters at the sideline of their presentation. "We're very confident that the Vice President maintains his lead, that he maintains the trust of the people."

Members of the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA), of which Binay is a frontrunner, are turning their coalition of parties into one political party in preparation for Binay's expected presidential bid in 2016.

Binay, a former Makati mayor, was pegged by a Pulse Asia survey earlier this year as the top choice of Filipino voters to be the next president. —Rose-An Jessica Dioquino/KBK, GMA News