POLITICAL CIRCUS HAS STARTED. A little birdie chirped that Roxas is being given within a year to pick up or improve his ratings, or “Let it Go” for him. It’s the Oscar award winning theme song of the movie “Frozen.” . . . Incidentally, Revilla earlier expressed also his interest to throw his hat in the 2016 presidential elections ‘Let it go’ COMMONSENSE By Marichu A. Villanueva Philippine Star philstar/opinion/2014/03/07/1298081/let-it-go After announcing he will leave PDP-Laban and formally launch his own political party to prepare for the May 2016 elections, Vice President Jejomar Binay virtually raised the starting gate for “closet” presidential aspirants to out themselves now. Taking the cue of the Vice President, Senate majority leader Alan Peter Cayetano announced the other day that he, too, is making himself available to become a presidential candidate, if ever by the Nacionalista Party (NP). Obviously still playing coy about it, Cayetano would not fix yet on what presidential election year he would join the fray. Other than Cayetano, other NP stalwarts also have moist eyes on the 2016 presidential race like Senator Ferdinand Marcos waiting in the wings. Don’t rule out yet NP president, former Sen. Manny Villar. Of course, early presidential wannabes like Vice President Binay and Cayetano can only declare their intentions. The final decision whether he or she is the presidential standard-bearer of a political party is supposed to be a decision of the majority, if not the entire membership. Ironically, the ruling administration-backed Liberal Party (LP) of President Benigno “Noy” Aquino III has not been making any noise up to now. Presidential wannabes from the LP ranks are obviously playing it safe not to offend the sensibilities of the anointing power. If we are to believe official pronouncements from Malacañang, President Aquino is too busy with things he needs to do in the remaining 845 days of his term that ends at noon of June 30, 2016. A number of P-Noy’s LP allies are being bruited about as potential presidential timber. Foremost is P-Noy’s erstwhile vice presidential runningmate and now Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Mar Roxas II who ran but lost to Binay in the last May 2010 elections. A little birdie chirped that Roxas is being given within a year to pick up or improve his ratings, or “Let it Go” for him. It’s the Oscar award winning theme song of the movie “Frozen.” Roxas will have to live up to his “Boy pick-up” moniker if he will make a run for the 2016 presidential race. It was Sen. Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. who gave Roxas this moniker during his exposé against the DILG secretary. Revilla revealed Roxas picked him up somewhere in the latter’s house in Araneta Center, Cubao and drove him to the Bahay Pangarap for a supposed clandestine meeting with P-Noy during the impeachment trial of former Supreme Court chief justice Renato Corona. Incidentally, Revilla earlier expressed also his interest to throw his hat in the 2016 presidential elections. Other names being floated for the 2016 presidential race include P-Noy’s other allies like Senate president Franklin Drilon (LP), Senator Chiz Escudero (Independent) and lately, even neophyte Senator Grace Poe’s name is being included in the surveys. In Binay’s case, he is resigning as the national chairman of the Partido ng Demokratikong Pilipino-Laban ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) and lead another political party. The still unnamed new political party, Vice President Binay told us, would be launched on June 12 to coincide with the country’s Independence Day. Tentatively, the new political party of Vice President Binay would come from the ranks of PDP-Laban who are also leaving the party with him. This includes the Binay brood, namely, Sen. Nancy Binay, Makati Rep. Abigail Binay and Makati City Mayor Junjun Binay. Also joining the Binays in the new party is former Tarlac congressman Jose “Peping” Cojuangco. Currently the incumbent Philippine Olympic Committee chairman, Cojuangco is the maternal uncle of President Aquino. Cojuangco was one of those behind the merger of the PDP-Laban currently headed by Sen. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III as party president. Pimentel shrugged off Binay’s announcement to leave their party, saying this would finally release the PDP-Laban from its coalition with the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA). The coalition was formed during the May 2010 elections with the Partido ng Masang Pilipino (PMP) of former President and now mayor of the city of Manila Joseph Estrada. UNA fielded candidates, many of whom beat P-Noy’s bets during the May 2010 midterm elections. The Vice President’s falling out with PDP-Laban started with Pimentel’s refusal to run under the UNA-backed senatorial ticket with former Sen. Miguel “Migz” Zubiri who joined the PMP. Instead, Pimentel ran and won under P-Noy’s 12-man senatorial ticket. The Vice President lamented this gave rise to a “dysfunctional” situation of the two PDP-Laban senators where his daughter Nancy is allied with the minority bloc while Pimentel is with the majority at the Senate. In so many words, I take it to mean the Vice President sticks to the ideal situation of clear party stand, especially on policy and political issues. In short, one cannot have the best of both worlds. You cannot have your cake and eat it, too, so to speak. The Vice President though himself is seemingly in that same situation. P-Noy appointed Binay to his administration with not just one but two Cabinet-ranked positions. Though he has no line department portfolios, Binay was made presidential adviser on overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) concerns and is also the presidential adviser on housing who chairs the different housing agencies under the umbrella of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council. The Vice President is also the chairman of the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking. In addition, P-Noy gives the Vice President foreign assignments from time to time and send him as his designated representative in official meetings abroad. In fact, I gathered the Vice President is leaving for Moscow towards the end of this month to represent P-Noy in a summit meeting about nuclear matters. The Vice President remains in P-Noy’s Cabinet. Binay maintains his political alliance with UNA that has taken the fiscalizer role of the opposition. Vice President Binay sees nothing “dysfunctional” in this set-up. As far as the Vice President is concerned, doing his work as a public servant is the best campaign he can do while in office. Perhaps, the Vice President must start thinking what he needs to slowly let it go.l
Posted on: Fri, 07 Mar 2014 23:37:49 +0000