I know I'll win if I don't get cheated, Binay says

With almost-completed partial tallies still showing him on top, former Makati mayor Jejomar Binay on Wednesday seemed almost certain he would win in the vice presidential race. But the only thing that could spoil his victory, Binay said at a press conference, is if he gets cheated at this point in the canvassing of election returns. "Lumalabas na sa TV, nakikita na sa diyaryo at naririnig sa radyo [ang resulta] ng isang malinis at marangal na halalan. At kung mababago pa iyon eh babaguhin na lang iyon sa hindi tamang pamamaraan (The result of the clean polls are well reported on television, radio and newspapers. The only thing that could change it is cheating)," said Binay of the Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino. Based on his camp's monitoring, Binay said his biggest lead so far over his closest rival was as high as 1.3 million, while the smallest is around 700,000. "Kaya mahirap nang paniwalaan na mababago pa (It’s hard to believe the trend will change)," added Binay, who is the running mate of former President Joseph Estrada, who currently ranks second in the presidential derby. The former Makati mayor also boasted that Sen. Mar Roxas III only beat him in three regions — Western Visayas, Central Visayas, and Caraga. He added that he leads in the rest of the country’s 14 regions. Binay continued to surge ahead in the ongoing partial and unofficial tally of GMA Network, which currently shows him getting 13,269,640 votes with 89 percent of all election returns counted so far. A separate count by the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) also showed similar results with Binay having 13,266,616 votes as of Wednesday noon. Based on GMA and PPCRV's count, Roxas's has so far received 12,474,596 votes and 12,477,075 votes, respectively. VP advice In the same press conference, Binay said he was willing to seek advice from Vice President Noli de Castro and other past vice presidents. Considering himself a "team player," Binay said he does not see any problem in working with Aquino, if ever the latter ends up winning as president. After the EDSA revolution in 1986, former President Corazon Aquino named Binay as acting Makati mayor, becoming her very first appointee. Binay — said to have dealt with poverty in Makati City when he was still mayor — also reiterated his plan to strengthen local governments in the country. "Give them more power. Give them more financial support... aasenso ang buong bansa [And the entire Philippines will improve]," Binay said, even citing as an example Makati City as having a "progressive and strong" local governance. He said there would be a turn-around in the priorities when it comes to budget allocation. He said the government should spend 70 percent of its allotted funds to local government spending and only 30 percent to the national government. Under current practice, Binay claimed the national government gets the lion's share or around 82 percent of its funds, while the remaining 18 percent goes to local government. - LBG, RJAB Jr., GMANews.TV