THE beleaguered Binay family is ready to forgive their detractors after the May elections, and the healing started when they exchanged “peace be with you” with Liberal Party presidential candidate Manuel Roxas II during a mass before the signing of the “truth covenant” at the Manila Cathedral, Senator Nancy Binay said Monday.
She said it was the Binays that first approached Roxas to make peace. She said the Binays felt awkward at first because they shared the same pew with Roxas during the mass.
“We did not expect that we would be made to share the same pew and be seated side by side,” Binay said.
She said she felt relieved after the mass and after praying for the strength to grant true forgiveness.
“It’s because even us must have hurt some people and they hurt us as well,” Binay said.
“We hope that after the elections, everything will come to pass. Let’s all move on and help our country. I prayed for that because that’s really difficult. And to accept whatever is in store for us and what’s the will of God, the will of the people come May 9.”
Binay said the exchange with Roxas, the bitterest rival of her father Vice President Jejomar Binay, the standard bearer of the opposition United Nationalist Alliance, was “cordial.”
She said her encounter with Roxas was really not that difficult.
“I guess because I learned from my Dad not to be vindictive. You just have to move on, he always tells us,” she said.
The vice president, along with his wife and children, have been accused of corruption, and in particular the alleged overpricing of the P2-billion Makati City Hall Parking building.
The vice president has directly accused Malacañang and Roxas of being behind the demolition job against him.
Senator Binay has maintained that no evidence has been presented against her father.
She said the 242 bank accounts containing billions in funds that were supposedly uncovered by the Anti-Money Laundering Council turned out to be false after the council admitted to the court that there was only one account in the name of Vice President Binay that contained P1.7 million.
The senator said the Binay family was grateful that her father was able to reach the “homestretch” despite the controversies hounding the family.
“Our family has gone through a lot and only our faith in God has kept us grounded, and now we are reaching the homestretch,” the senator said.
“For us this is more than just signing that covenant. It is important to us to be one with the Church and considering that the invitation came from the Cardinal himself. How can we say no to that?”
Vice President Binay signed the Catholic Church’s T.R.U.T.H (Truthful, Responsible, Upright, Transparent and Honest) Covenant together with other candidates after a mass celebrated by Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle at the Manila Cathedral.
In signing the covenant, Binay pledged to respect life and support a clean and honest election. He also vowed to promote at all times “an unequivocal respect and reverence for life.”
