Noynoy, Binay talk about shoes in first chat after proclamation

After being proclaimed as the persons who will figuratively slip into the shoes of the nation’s most powerful officials, the Philippines’ next top leaders talked literally about a fitting topic: their brand-new shoes. Vice-president-elect “Jojo" Jejomar Binay said on Thursday that his first conversation with President-elect Benigno “Noynoy" Aquino III after they were proclaimed on Wednesday was very casual and was focused on their new pairs of shoes. "Wala. Napag-usapan lang namin sapatos namin na parehong bago," Binay said in an interview aired over Bombo Radyo. Binay, who is eyeing the Interior and Local Government post, said nothing political was raised during the informal meeting. Aquino and Binay were officially proclaimed by Congress on Wednesday as the winners of the May 2010 polls after nearly three weeks of canvassing. (See: Congress proclaims Aquino as president, Binay as VP) In the same interview, Binay likewise refused to further talk about his role in Aquino’s Cabinet, saying he wants to finalize the matter first with the president-elect before making any statement. Binay — who first entered politics when he was appointed by Aquino’s mother, the late President Corazon Aquino, as acting Makati mayor in 1986 — added that he expects to have a more formal meeting with the president-elect in the coming days. "Mahirap mag-speculate, ‘di naman ako mag-a-approve. So, ha’mong makarating tayo sa yugto na mapag-usapan namin kung papaano ako sasama sa kanyang gabinete (It’s hard to speculate, since I won’t be the approving authority. So let’s just wait until that stage when he and I can talk about how I should join his cabinet)," he said.—JV, GMANews.TV