SO Vice President Jejomar Binay has left the Cabinet of President Noynoy Aquino for a reason. But if the veep has delicadeza, he should have resigned as Cabinet member holding two posts after he announced his intention to run for president because he heads the opposition party.
Binay resigned on Monday from his Cabinet posts not to answer the plunder charges and allegations of corruption against him but because he wants to begin the presidential battle--even as he already started it from day one when he became vice president--whoever is the administration’s candidate.
However, Binay’s motive was obvious. He resigned after he probably knew ahead the result of Pulse Asia’s survey that showed that his trust rating increased from 42 percent in March to 57 percent this June and his approval rating rose from 45 percent in March to 58 percent this month despite allegations of plunder and corruption against him.
The approval and trust ratings that Binay received from the people surveyed by Pulse Asia are something that the administration and its probable bet, Local Governments Secretary Mar Roxas, should be wary about. Roxas is Liberal Party’s (LP) standard bearer in the May 2016 presidential polls.
However, some say that the high approval and trust ratings that Binay got in Pulse Asia’s latest survey do not mean he is the voters’ preferred candidate for president.
Sen. Grace Poe has overtaken Binay in the ratings. The administration is wooing her as Roxas’s running mate. But Poe earlier said that if she would run for president, Sen. Chiz Escudero would be her choice for vice president for reasons of her own.
Would the new survey results that put Binay second to Poe overwhelm the dreams of Roxas of becoming the next president? He slid down as running mate of President Aquino in the 2010 elections because of poor poll ratings. He lost to Binay.
With this new survey results, would LP decide on Poe, who is not an LP member, as its presidential bet and ask Roxas to slide down as Poe’s running mate? It’s going to be a big decision for Roxas. If he does so, it would jeopardize for the second time Korina’s dream of becoming the First Lady. LOL!
The May 2016 presidential race is getting more interesting.
Davao city Mayor Rodrigo “Digong” Duterte, who earlier said he is not running for president because he has no money, has already toured the country in the guise of promoting federalism as the best alternative to our present presidential form of government.
On June 25, Mayor Duterte will address a gathering of Asia’s business leaders in Makati City, right in the turf of VP Binay, United Nationalist Alliance’s (UNA) unopposed standard bearer for the May 2016 presidential polls.
Asia CEOs invited Duterte to share his knowledge and experience in transforming Davao City from being a murder capital to become one of the world’s safest cities and also rated as among the Top 10 livable cities, Sun.Star Davao reported.
Asia’s business leaders also want to know if the business-friendly policy of Davao City could be adopted as a national policy. Davao City has implemented a “72-Hour Processing Period” for all business transactions. Applications for business permit are released within 72 hours from submission.
Mayor Duterte may not have the approval or trust rating that Binay got from Pulse Asia’s survey, but he is the preferred presidential candidate of the political leaders in Surigao del Sur even before he could announce he is running for the post.
Surigao del Sur may be a dot in the country’s political map, but my god brother, who just arrived from my hometown in Cagwait, Surigao del Sur, said the province’s political leaders are one in supporting Duterte for president. The same sentiment is true in the other provinces of Mindanao.
Will the presidential race in May 2016 be a three-cornered fight? It’s going to be a lively electoral exercise but we, voters, should be more than careful in choosing the next president who will lead this 100 million-people nation. God Bless the Philippines!
(freezone.ellie588@gmail.com)