CASUALTIES OF One More Term for PNoy By Philip Jr Lustre The first political casualty is Jojo Binay. The Presidents hint that he is open for a second term puts Binay on the defensive. It means he wont be the presidential candidate of the Liberal Party as what he attempted to project before the Presidents TV interview. It also means he has to fend for himself because the ruling Liberal Party and its allies wont adopt him at all. It also means that Binay has to contend with the likes of Erap and other rejects as his political allies. Keeping Erap, Jinggoy, and JPE in his alliance would be a big burden for him because he has to explain to the people his political alliance with plunderers, suspected and convicted. If he gets rid of them, Erap will run to protect his son. That will mean a sure loss for Binay. Moreover, the President allows him to protect his political flanks.Because of his statement, the much ballyhooed mass exodus of political leaders of the ruling coalition to Binays is not happening. They perfectly understand that the President is exercising his options. Hence, it is not politically sound to jump to the other side of the political fence. The other political casualty is the Supreme Court. By taking this stance, the Court is also put on the defensive. The justices should understand that the President is already exercising his political options that could further put them on the defensive. The High Court could only do so much. Theoretically, it is at par with the other branches of government - the Executive and Legislative. But in practice, it is not. Its job of interpreting the law does not make it an active political player. It has no political clout. What the President did is aimed primarily for what marketing people describe as product differentiation. The President wanted to redefine himself and present a commodity, which Binay and the Court does not have - integrity. Whether he Constitutions gets amended or not, whether he runs or not, and whether he faces the people for second term does not matter much at the moment. What matters most is to show to the people the sterner stuff the President has and which Binay and the Court do not have.
Posted on: Mon, 18 Aug 2014 11:02:35 +0000
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