Palace says it’s not threatened by VP Binay’s party

Malacañang says it is not threatened by Vice President Jejomar Binay's move to formally turn the opposition United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) into a political party for the 2016 polls.

During a press briefing on Wednesday, presidential spokesman Secretary Edwin Lacierda confidently shrugged off Binay's meeting with his political allies earlier in the day to set up the new party.

"Why will we be threatened? We are focused on governance right now. Some people would like to talk about 2016, but we're focused on governance. We've got so much work to do," Lacierda told reporters.

The Palace official even dared the UNA officials to tell the public "what kind of party they are."

"Let them state for the record: are they for the administration or are they for the opposition? It's not for us to surmise or speculate the nature of the party," he said.

Binay has long announced his intention to seek the presidency in 2016.

UNA and Binay

The UNA coalition was formed before the 2013 elections after Vice President Jejomar Binay's Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) aligned with former President Joseph Estrada's Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP).

Binay, UNA's prospective standard-bearer in 2016, later left PDP-Laban.

UNA lawmakers have so far been critical of the administration. Binay's camp has however repeatedly maintained that the vice-president supports President Benigno Aquino III's reform programs.

Aquino, who chairs the ruling Liberal Party, has yet to publicly anoint his preferred successor, although Transportation Secretary Joseph Abaya had earlier named Interior Secretary Mar Roxas as LP's presidential bet for 2016.

Earlier this month, Binay was left out of a gathering of Aquino's allies in Malacañang, where the President sought to draw a line between those who support him and those who do not.

Binay, who is currently facing plunder charges, has been dominating pre-election popularity polls, with Roxas lagging behind. — BM, GMA News