PNoy, Binay and Pacquiao vis-à-vis the working class

The three most talked about personalities in the country today are the President, the Vice President and the “Pambansang Kamao’’, not necessarily in that order of popularity. The labor front is trying to evaluate their respective stand on the leading labor issues, as well as their policy on, and performance, if any, relative to the issues on unemployment, labor migration, poverty alleviation, population management, the trade unions, the administration of labor justice and wages relative to cost of living, the problems on housing, medical care and the cost of quality education.

There are interesting parallelisms between the substantial decline of the President’s popularity ratings on the one hand, and the controversial loss of Pacquiao to a virtual unknown in the boxing world, on the other. It demonstrates the inevitability of the law of gravity that whatever goes up shall necessarily go down in due time.  In the case of PNoy, it is alarmingly too fast and too soon, while Manny’s Las Vegas unexpected debacle was too sudden and too unexpected. The complete opposite is the consistent rise of Jojo Binay’s popularity, despite his low profile, no frill style of direct contact and straight talk with the masses.

In relation to the working class, the President delivers high-sounding speeches, in virginal Tagalog (that the Visayans deem pure literary rhetoric) as he attacks the corrupt, reports on foreign investments from UK and the USA, but fails to summarize in “masa’’ terms, what he really intends to do for the workers and their families. With two secretaries in charge of communication and with a very hard-working Labor Secretary, one could only wonder why there is no coherent message to address the labor problems. In contrast, Jojo Binay talks to OFWs and their loved ones, embraces and kisses them, and gives them hopes (shades of Pres. Ramon Magsaysay), even if he was unable to save death convicts from execution. He exudes sincerity, warmth and availability. His PR handlers are doing a much better job.

PNoy wears branded coat and tie and custom-tailored barongs. Binay appears very “masa” with his short-sleeved polo barong “gusot mahirap ang dating.” The President’s appearance reinforces his illustrado, haciendero and capitalist image, being descended from the landed Cojuangco clan and the Aquino political bigwigs. Binay comes from a cultural community and his looks and demeanor is so simple, even his words are very understandable by the man on the street. He talks from the heart and addresses the hearts of the working class. Pacquiao comes from the “hoi polloi” too, but his financial success has transformed his image from that of “masa” to nouveau riche with mansions in GenSan, and California, luxury cars and lavish lifestyle, and with a new Las Vegas twang. His contacts with the people are generally at the level of dole-outs, thereby exploiting the growing sense of mendicancy, without a long-range approach to poverty alleviation.

The President hobnobs with gun-owners who love shooting, and appoints them to juicy positions, while Pacquiao spends a lot of time with such characters as Chavit Singson. Binay spends his weekends attending to wakes, funerals, weddings and baptisms. He has the Boys Scouts, the APO Frat and the LGUs of sister cities supporting him all the way. Now with Erap, Sen. Jinggoy, Senate Pres. JPE, Chiz Escudero, Migz Zubiri (despite Sen. Koko Pimentel’s tantrums) and with Manny Pacquiao, Mitos Magsaysay and our own Gov. Gwen, Binay’s presidency is in the bag. As long as Binay does not commit a major blunder, the presidency is a walk in the park. Mar Roxas may go down as a small annotation in history. The labor front is seeing Binay as more pro-people, pro-poor, pro-labor and pro-OFWs.

Labor looks at PNoy and Mar Roxas as unapproachable scions of the rich and famous. Binay is a son of workers and tillers of the soil. Despite his current wealth and stature, he exudes amazing simplicity in words and actions. His long and steady relationship with his wife and his success as a father to a city mayor and a congresswoman is a strong contrast to the President’s many short and failed courtships. Relationships are strong marks of character and the labor front has enough common sense to discern the difference. Pacquiao’s alleged womanizing is well-known but that is now downplayed by an image of a bible-savvy born-again Christian. The people, however, were not born yesterday and they hold the view that a genuine believer need not make much noise about his faith.

The laborers love self-made men, which Binay is. PNoy and Roxas were born with silver spoons in their mouths. Binay had to work his way up. His parents and grandparents were not presidents. The President almost inherited the presidency by intestate succession. Binay built his own organization bit by bit, silently and very effectively, without fanfare.

Well, that is how the cookie crumbles. Fortune favors the one who are truly hardworking, and not those who are hardly working. If the elections were going to be held today, Jejomar Binay will win the overwhelming votes of the working class, hands down. As the Tagalogs would love to say: “Itaga mo sa bato.” Mark my words.