BINAY’S CHOICE: TO CODDLE JPE-JINGGOY OR NOT It would be better for Vice President Jejomar Binay to stay away from Juan Ponce Enrile, Jinggoy and Erap Estrada, if he wants to win the presidency in 2016. It would be best for him to cut ties – totally, officially, and unofficially - with the JPE-Era-Jinggoy group even if he earns their enmity. This is if the Vice President wants the Filipino people to perceive him as a man of integrity, one who is fit for the presidency. Jojo Binay has nothing to do with the P10-billion pork barrel scam. He is not a lawmaker. He is not a cabinet secretary or head of an implementing agency involved in the scandal. Neither he is an associate of alleged mastermind, Janet Napoles. But so long as he goes with these characters, people would remember him as the coddler of JPE and Jinggoy, two senators who allegedly cornered the largest chunks of Priority Development Fund (PDAF) along with Sen. Bong Revilla. If JPE and Jinggoy are already with Binay, will Bong be far behind? Hence, numerous yarns of untold doubts, suspicions, possibilities, and scenarios could be spun because of his close association and identification with these characters, who the people now condescendingly perceive as villains of history. By the way, Erap was a convicted plunderer. He suffered the ignominy of being kicked out from office by the people’s uprising, popularly called EDSA Dos. Hence, his association with Erap makes Binay a coddler of the convicted criminal. Jojo Binay does not need the JPE-Erap-Estrada group if he wants to win in 2016. It is the other way around. JPE and Jinggoy need Binay because he could be their protector, who would save them from further public humiliation in case they get convicted of plunder charges and in case Binay gets elected in 2016. Binay is the coddler, who is being perceived to use his presidential powers in 2016 to go soft on these lawmakers. He may give them pardon in case of conviction by the Sandiganbayan, or he may use his presidential powers to slow down the trial process. Nothing is impossible though. Every sane person is inclined to believe that Binay has entered into a secret pact, verbally agreed or not, with those characters, if he wins the presidency in 2016. This is something he would have to deny in every political gathering when the political campaign begins in 2016. The three main suspects in the pork barrel scam would give him the heaviest burden in the political campaign. They would be his political baggage. Any denial by him of any secret pact would not appeal to voters. The old adage that a pact with the devil is no pact at all is nonsense. His tactical alliance with the three allies somewhat worked in 2013, when three senatorial candidates and several congressional and local candidates won. But that happened before the Philippine Daily Inquirer had uncovered the pork barrel scam and become the headline of many dailies and broadcast networks. That was when Jinggoy and JPE’s popularity was at the highest because of their involvement in the successful impeachment trial of removed Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona in 2012. Even in 2013, Jojo Binay showed considerable and unparalleled strength quite different from JPE, Jinggoy, and Erap’s. His daughter, Nancy, an unknown character, landed fifth in the senatorial elections; J.V. Ejercito was 11th, while Jackie Ponce Enrile, son of Johnny, lost miserably. The Vice President hardly needed Erap and JPE even in 2013 elections. His candidates under the UNA won without JPE and Eraps support. Times have changed. JPE, Jinggoy, and Bong have been pinpointed by whistleblowers as among the lawmakers, who allegedly received the biggest commissions form ghost projects masterminded by their alleged partner in crime – Janet Napoles. The paper trail and testimonies of those whistleblowers solidly pointed to their alleged involvement in what could be regarded the biggest heist of the national coffers. They are now being pilloried in public. At all cost, Binay should avoid any identification with these alleged con artists masquerading as lawmakers. He should project sincerity of purpose and integrity if he wants to get elected in 2016. He should project he is fit for the countrys top political post. He should not resort to political expediency just to win in 2016. The Filipino people will not reward Binay with the country’s top political post, if they see him as a coddler, benefactor, protector, supporter, and ally of those characters, who comprise the forces of darkness. Before the public, these characters appeared to have stolen our dreams and aspirations and sold their souls to the devils for a few hundreds of millions of pesos in stolen public funds. Vice President Jejomar Binay, the second highest political leader, the man who is a heartbeat away from the presidency, should choose the path of righteousness and discernment if he wants history to remember him as one on its right side. He has to make the urgent choice.
Posted on: Sat, 10 May 2014 13:17:51 +0000
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