The blunders of Jojo Binay
By Manny Piñol
Jesus Jose Maria Binay is the ultimate politician.
He befriends everybody, visits the wake of almost all dead people even those he does not personally know, rides on popular issues, reaches out to people identified with his political adversaries and most of all, he has expertly played the "poor versus rich" card to get the sympathy of the hoi polloi.
Shortly after the 2010 presidential elections, when Binay came from virtually nowhere to defeat frontrunner Mar Roxas III and become the vice president to Benigno S. Aquino III, he immediately positioned himself for the presidency.
True to his color as an astute politician, he immediately reached out to people who worked for his main political adversary.
I was one of those invited to the Coconut Palace through the intercession of a common friend, businessman and horseracing enthusiast Hermie Esguerra.
Of course, Binay knew that I campaigned for Mar Roxas and while I lost in the 2010 elections for the governorship of North Cotabato, he and his people knew that I have a sizable number of loyal supporters who believed in my governance and who could neither be swayed by money, rice and goodies nor cowed by threats and intimidation.
I knew Jojo Binay from way back since my journalism days to the period when I was in politics where we were brought together by another common friend, former President Joseph Estrada.
But it was only when I called on him in the Coconut Palace along with my brothers Mayor Lito of M'lang and Mayor Efren of Magpet when I realized how warm Jojo Binay was as a person.
Holding my hand like we were long lost friends, Jojo Binay told me: "O, sa susunod ha, tayo na ang magsama." (Hey, next time, the two of us should be together.)
I found it easy to like Jojo Binay.
He was so unlike Mar Roxas who could sometimes be very abrasive, irascible and incapable of showing warmth to people around him.
Mar's character though is understandable having grown up in an environment where as a super rich kid everybody around him was either a servant or a driver.
I was deeply impressed by Jojo Binay's warmth, which whether real or feigned, made people around him feel comfortable.
It was during that meeting, which was followed by many other encounters later, when I told Jojo Binay that he was a cinch to be the next President of the Philippines if only he could avoid committing a political blunder.
"Wala naman sigurong delikado na magka-blunder tayo kasi hindi naman controversial ang hawak kong position," he told me obviously referring to his being the housing Czar of the Aquino administration.
But there is a saying "When things are bound to go wrong, they will go wrong." The blunders that Jojo Binay tried hard to avoid started to unfold for people to see.
There was a video of his vehicles convoy crossing a street on a red light which he later justified by saying he was late for an appointment.
Then, there was the Dasmarinas gate scandal where he publicly defended his son, Makati Mayor Junjun Binay even when the latter displayed high-handed and arrogant behavior towards the lowly subdivision guards.
Now, he and his family are committing another major mistake by snubbing the Senate investigation which leads some people to ask: "If they can make a travesty of institutional processes now, how much more if he becomes President?"
The biggest blunder committed by Vice President Binay, however, was declaring that he was coveting the Presidency even before the dust of the 2010 elections could settle down.
He allowed himself to become fair game and open target to people who do not like him to become President or who would like other people to be President.
What makes things worse for Vice President Binay is the fact that while he may have tried hard to avoid committing blunders as he prepares for the presidency, he obviously committed a lot of them when he was still Mayor of Makati.
His past blunders include being too trusting to people around him, including his former Vice Mayor Ernesto Mercado who along with other key Binay henchmen is now exposing alleged corruption and anomalies in the Makati City Hall during the time Jojo Binay was Mayor up to the period when his wife, Dr. Elenita, and son, Junjun, took over the city hall.
Another blunder was reneging on his commitment to Mercado to support the latter's bid for the mayorship of Makati, a reason perhaps for Mercado to spill the beans on his former boss.
Vice President Binay may have deftly avoided major political blunders during his incumbency as the second highest official of the country but his biggest problem is the past.
Indeed, Jojo Binay can avoid blunders but he cannot erase and run away from the ones he committed in the past.
source: Facebook Page: Manny Piñol
No comments:
Post a Comment