Classic bout turns into a snoozer AS CORRUPTION ISSUES HIT LIKE HAMMER, BINAY SHOWS INCREDIBLE PAIN TOLERANCE

By Manny Pinol

Boxing may have been more interesting had embattled Vice President Jejomar Binay worn a pair of gloves and entered the ring because of his unbelievable pain tolerance.

In the face of very damaging exposes and revelations on his alleged corrupt practices as Mayor of Makati which enriched his family and his unexplained wealth, the erstwhile political heavyweight has displayed incredible ability to absorb punishment, very brutal punishment.

“Rocky,” the boxing icon in the movie series played by Sylvester Stallone, would have paled in comparison to the incredible pain tolerance level of Vice President Binay.

Right after the start of the investigation, when exposes after exposes rained on him like Manny Pacquiao’s combinations, the Vice President showed uncanny ability to absorb the punishment.

If I were covering this spectacle like a boxing event, I would have this round by round annotation of the bout between Binay and former Makati Vice Mayor Ernesto Mercado:

Round 1: Mercado comes out swinging with bombs, mainly charges that the Makati City Hall Bldg. 2 was grossly overpriced at P2.3-B. The attack was made more painful by the participation of VP Binay’s own trusted men when he was mayor who had turned their back on him, including the former head of the Bids and Awards Committee who testified that at one time a bidder who intentionally “jailed” in an elevator to prevent him from participating in the bidding. VP Binay avoids the attack by claiming that the charges are rehashed lies which are revived every time elections are near. No counter attack from Binay. Score: Mercado 10; Binay 8.

Round 2: Mercado scores heavily again with a video presentation of the Hacienda Binay, a 350-hectare property in Rosario, Batangas which he said is owned by the Binay family with a copy of London’s Kew Gardens designed by the Vice President’s wife, Dr. Elenita. Binay denies saying he never bought the property but was immediately rebuffed by a nosy journalist who kept a tape recorded interview with the Vice President in 2010 where he was heard clearly admitting that he bought the property for P35 per square meter. VP Binay was left defenseless when an old and sickly woman, Maria Guico, said it was then Mayor Binay himself who came to her property when she sold to buy much-needed medicines. Binay tries to bring to his corner businessman Antonio Tiu who claimed he owned the property but after intense grilling in the Senate and facing the risk of being charged with tax evasion, Tiu suddenly disappeared. In succeeding exchanges, Sen. Alan Cayetano, one of the judges, comes in with a photo-grab of an Instagram post made by Binay’s youngest daughter, Joanna Marie, where she described the questioned property as :”Our place in Batangas.” Binay cries foul and claims it was a low blow. Score: Mercado 10; Binay – 7.

Round 3: Claiming that the three judges – Cayetano, Senator Antonio Trillanes and sub-committee chairman Senator Koko Pimentel – were biased, VP Binay calls on the Senate Blue-Ribbon Mother Committee chairman Senator TG Guingona to hold a hearing and send him an invitation. Binay said he would only attend if it was the Mother Committee which invited him. Guingona did just that. Binay, however, refused to come out of his corner saying he had other important things to do than appear in a Senate investigation. Score: Mercado 10; Binay 0.

Round 4: Irked by what he called the bias of one of the judges, VP Binay challenged Senator Trillanes to a debate, a challenge which Trillanes accepted. After much expectations which already involved preparations by the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas, Binay backed out of the debate saying he “pitied” Senator Trillanes because it could have been a one-sided debate because as a lawyer he was too good for Trillanes. He added he did not want to look oppressive by mauling the former military mutineer in a public debate. One of Binay’s cornermen, Gov. Jonvic Remulla of Cavite, gave a different story. He said it did not look proper that the Vice President would engage Trillanes in a debate while the survivors of Typhoon Yolanda continued to suffer. Score: Mercado 10; Binay 0.

Round 5: Mercado comes out with blazing guns again claiming that real estate developers in Makati City were asked to “gift” then Mayor Jojo Binay with condominium units in exchange for fast processing of building and business permits and tax reprieves. He identifies initially six units, the registered owner of one of which came out with an affidavit saying that he was only a dummy to VP Binay. Cornerman Remulla came to his bet’s rescue by claiming that the condo units were actually owned Mercado himself. Mercado counters by saying he had boxes full of documents showing more dirt on the former Makati Mayor. Score: Mercado 10; Binay 6.

The judges said they will have one more round in the fight after which they will take a break and resume next year.

This early, however, I think this has turned out to be a spectacle of a fighter who has taken so much punishment but has continued to declare that he wants to win the title of President of the Philippines.

Somebody, however, should tell the embattled Vice President that you don’t win a fight by simply running away and backpedalling all throughout.

It is turning out to be a boring rout.

Well, it is just good that Jojo Binay did not become a boxer. It would have been very difficult to market a fight where one of the boxers keeps on complaining of low blows, who calls out to the crowd to support him while at the same time refusing to throw punches or fight back.