Game Over? THE STRANGE CASE OF JEJOMAR BINAY, MAN WHO WOULD’VE BEEN PRESIDENT

By Manny Pinol

It was not very long ago, I still remember vividly, when I engaged Vice President Jojo Binay in a very candid conversation during one of his visits in Davao City.

The topic was the Presidency and how I thought the newly-elected Vice President was a cinch to become the next leader of the country.

“Sir, if you could just avoid committing a blunder between now and 2016, you will be the next President,” I told the vice president.

His reply was full of confidence saying that his job as Vice President and as housing Czar of the Aquino administration were not controversial positions and the risk of committing blunders was almost nil.

Today, less than two years before the elections, the man who many thought would surely be the next President of the Philippines is seeing his dream of becoming president slipping through his fingers.

As his popularity takes a nose dive in the face of the endless issues thrown against him in an apparently administration-backed frontal attack, Vice President Binay could at best be called “the man who would have been President.”

What caused the dramatic downfall of Jejomar Binay?

I believe it was not the issue of corruption or alleged ill-gotten wealth.

Even the supposed overpricing in the construction of government buildings in Makati City when he was mayor, including the cornering of juicy and profitable government projects and contracts, could not have brought him down this drastically.

If the reactions of some of the followers of this page were to be used as basis, many Filipinos accept the fact that almost all of their political leaders make money while in office.

“Hayaan mo na. Lahat naman yan sila nagnanakaw. Doon na lang tayo sa magnanakaw na nakakatulong,” was the usual reaction.

Besides, the issues of overpricing and unexplained wealth would have taken years of litigation and hundreds of hearings before they could be resolved and the truth established with finality.

Vice President Binay could have escaped from the issues with just scratches or at worse lacerations but he could have survived politically had he been forthright in addressing the controversies.

What destroyed him were the unbelievable explanations he and his spokespersons presented to the public which bordered on the perception that he and his handlers underestimated the level of comprehension and intelligence of the Filipino people.

This is where Vice President Binay committed a series of blunders.

For example, a survey conducted showed that 80 per cent of the respondents said Binay should face the Senate investigation into the alleged cases of corruption he was involved in when he was Mayor of Makati and the unexplained wealth, including the controversial 350-hectare ranch in Rosario, Batangas.

His refusal to appear in the Senate investigation was a big blunder because he allowed his detractors to throw everything against him.

But his biggest blunder was when he and his camp issued statements which were proven to be lies.

The denial on the ownership of the Batangas ranch, which were easily unmasked to be a lie by a recorded interview in 2010 where he admitted having bought the property for P30 per square meter and the TV interview of an old and sickly woman who said it was Binay himself who came to her farm after it was sold to him, were the fatal blows.

While it is hard to establish a legal fact, it is easy for people to identify a lie when they hear one.

Perhaps, Vice President Binay should have read over and over again the tale of Robin Hood, the thief who stole from the rich to give to the poor, how it was lapped up by the masses and how the fictitious character was adored by fans.

Unlike Robin Hood who admitted to stealing from the rich to give to the poor, Binay refused to admit that he gained anything and maintained that he belonged to the poor.

This is perhaps the clear message that the Filipinos now would like to convey to their leaders: “We can accept your imperfections as political leaders, but do not ever lie to us.”

Filipinos do not like to be lied to.

Alas, it is a lesson that Vice President Binay did not learn early enough.

As things stand now, the sad truth for Vice President Binay is that the closest he would earn the title “President of the Republic of the Philippines” is for it to be preceded by the phrase “Would Have Been.”