Bongbong 'flattered' Binay is considering him as running mate

MANILA -- Senator Ferdinand ''Bongbong'' Marcos, Jr. said he is flattered that Vice President Jejomar Binay is considering him as a running mate.

Binay earlier said that the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) selection committee has narrowed down the list of his potential running mates in the 2016 polls to five.

Three people on the list are Marcos, Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago and Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte.

Marcos said he is flattered that he is in the list of Binay's possible running mates, but he said any political decisions that he will make will have to get the nod of his party, the Nacionalista Party.

''This is politics, never say never…I am flattered that he chose me as running mate, but these matters are not decided by one person but by the party,'' Marcos said at the sidelines of the National Coconut Farmers Assembly at the Makati Palace Hotel.

''What good is being a party member if we do not abide by its decisions?"

Speaking to dzMM, UNA spokesperson Mon Ilagan said Marcos is very qualified to become Binay's running mate and the country's next vice president.

''Kung si Senator Bongbong man, kung totoo ang mga tsismis, maganda naman ang track record nito sapagkat ito ay naging govneror ng Ilocos [Norte], naging magaling na congressman, senador, tapos eh ito ay nag number one sa Ilocos Region, sa Mindanao, at malakas sa youth sector,'' Ilagan said.

'UNIFYING LEADER'

Binay was earlier asked if he sees a potential conflict of interest with teaming up with Marcos. The vice-president is a known human rights lawyer and former detainee during the Marcos regime.

"Bakit mo natanong 'yan? (Kung sakali lang po he's being considered.) Sabi ko ho, hopefully, ang Binay administration will be remembered as the unifying administration," Binay said.

"Let's move, move on. May bago po tayong mga problemang haharapin," he added.

He also said there are "pluses and minuses" in choosing a potential running mate.

Binay earlier told reporters picking Marcos as his running mate could divide the Nacionalista Party, which has Marcos and Senators Alan Peter Cayetano and Antonio Trillanes IV as members.

Cayetano is reportedly being eyed as a potential running mate of Liberal Party standard-bearer Mar Roxas while Trillanes has also expressed intention to run for vice-president.

Senator Marcos has said it was actually Binay's close ally, UNA president and Navotas congressman Toby Tiangco, who first proposed a Binay-Marcos ticket for 2016. ''Ano kaya kung kayo magsama," he recalled Tiangco as saying. – reports from Primy Cane and Jorge Cariño, ABS-CBN News