Interesting developments

Last week went by as another dull time at the stock market. The benchmark index settled for the week at 7,535.30, and dropped lower by another 86.75 points or 1.14 percent.

On the other hand, the week turned out to be an interesting time in the political front.

On July 1, Vice President Jejomar Binay headed the launching of the United Nationalist Alliance or Una as the main opposition party in the 2016 elections.  Earlier on June 22, Binay resigned from the Cabinet.

In his keynote speech, Binay laid out his vision and policy direction. There was also his acrimonious commentary on the present dispensation—which he used as justification to his resignation from the Cabinet—that “he could no longer stomach the selective justice, inefficiency and callousness of the present government.”

As a come on and show of popular following of the event was the presence of celebrities.  It was led by boxing world champion and  Representative Manny Pacquiao.

An obvious no-show at the event (but was earlier reported to attend as his political party Pwersa Ng Masang Pilipino was part of a coalition that formed Una) was former President and now Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada.

Obviously absent, too, were the elders of the other political party that completed the formation of Una, the Partido Demokratico Pilipino-Laban ng Bayan (PDP-Laban).

Reactions

The event and Binay’s speech did not escape criticisms, including those from Malacañang.  And while there were accolades, there was this avalanche of harsh and unkind remarks directed particularly to Binay, the main star of the show.

These were all captured in print, broadcast networks and online websites.  They also made the rounds among netizens in the social media.  These seemed to have been summed up in an online article entitled the “Top 10 epic fails of VP Binay.”

The article claimed that the “10 epic fails” of Binay had sent his public rating plummeting.  These blunders, the article added, might send Binay to “face a long stay behind bars in Muntinlupa as corruption allegations continue to hound him.”

Among these “epic fails” was “letting his daughter, Nancy Binay, run for the Senate, making the Binays the only dynasty with representatives in all major elective posts in the country.”

Next is by “announcing his ambition to be the next President just days after winning as Vice President in 2010. This made him the main target of political rivals in the last five years.”

Another was his refusal to “attend the Senate probe on his ill-gotten wealth, his use of dummies and fake bank accounts, and bid rigging and kickbacks while preferring to use spokespersons to fend off his critics.”

The article pointed out that “his sweeping denials in fora outside the prying questions of senators” has all the more put him in bad light.

Another telling blunder was “quitting the Aquino administration and picking a fight with the popular President and his men much earlier than he should.” The article stated that “Binay could have stayed four more months as the deadline for filing of candidacy is October 2015.”

Early on, Binay committed the blunder of “dropping Senators Grace Poe and Francis Escudero in the 2013 senatorial elections after getting them as guest candidates for Una.”

“Poe and Escudero refused to join Una’s sorties but Binay should have known these since the two were picked first by President Aquino for the administration ticket.”

A recent “epic” blunder that could be serve as a tipping point against him was his attack on “Poe’s murky residency status despite knowing fully well how Filipinos are suckers for the underdog situations of an ampon or foundling.”

Another blunder that continues to weigh him down, according to the article, was his failure “to curb his and his children’s arrogance when confronted by policemen in the Makati City Hall stand-off recently and (the arrogant confrontation) with security guards in Dasmariñas Village in December 2013.”

Earlier, he  also alienated Sen. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III by “giving Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri a seat in the Una senatorial ticket in 2013.”

Pimentel and Zubiri were at odds over alleged cheating by the latter in the 2007 elections. Pimentel joined the Liberal Party and Binay was banished from PDP-Laban.

He “created an enemy out of Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV by not showing up as the then mayor promised to the coup plotter in the Peninsula siege in November 2007.”

The last is by “reneging on his promise to let Vice Mayor Ernesto Mercado take over as Makati Mayor in 2010. Mercado is the primary whistle-blower in the Senate Blue Ribbon sub-committee’s 10-month probe who exposed Binay’s shenanigans such as the overpriced Makati Parking Building 2, Makati Science High School Building, and Hacienda Binay.”

Bottom line spin

The so-called Davao’s pride, incumbent Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, added color to last week’s political front.  On Friday, he had a cussing-filled press conference of sorts that projected him as another presidential candidate.

In the occasion, Duterte rumbled through his own vision and policy directions for the country.  But the litany of tasks and promises he outlined did not sound any different from what Binay already offered on Wednesday.

His attitude toward the ruling Liberal Party was noticeably brutal.  He said the endorsement of his political career by the party would be “like a kiss of death.”

Unlike the names that differentiate the political parties they belong to, both contenders have no patent differences in the color of their programs-plans and policy stand.  As a result, the contest for the presidency may now shift to a plain game of popularity.

In this case, independent presidential contender Grace Poe has the advantage.  She has been besting all potential candidates in polls.  She reportedly came out as the top choice for president in the recent survey conducted among the country’s bankers and financial analysts.

The deciding factor that made her overtake the rest, according to some quarters, was her credibility to continue with the anti-corruption stand of the present administration.

(The writer is a licensed stockbroker of Eagle Equities Inc.  You may reach the Market Rider at [email protected], [email protected] or at www.kapitaltek.com)