EDITORIAL – If the score is even, Binay is still ahead

Over the past several weeks, a Senate committee has been conducting hearings into allegations a Makati City government building costing more than P2 billion has been grossly overpriced. The charges, made mostly by associates-turned-enemies of Vice President Jejomar Binay, flew thick and fast. A new telenovela has come to town and people are being entertained. Agents even crisscrossed the country to drum up interest.

The charges are not new. They are the subject of a separate investigation by the Ombudsman. The Senate, of course, has oversight powers that allow it to look into anything under the sun. But it is clear why the Senate is particularly interested in this one. One of its members, Senator Alan Peter Cayetano, is expected to clash head-on with Binay for the presidency in 2016.     He is leading the charge in the hearings and anybody who tells you a different reason for the hearings is lying.

But Binay is fair game by his own volition. He attracted the brickbats to himself by declaring his political intentions very early. And it does nothing for his political health that he leads all the early surveys. If he has to be put down, he has to be put down by whatever means. A well-covered Senate hearing is one such means. It remains to be seen, however, if the hearings have managed to put Binay down as intended. The latest surveys are still out.

In the meantime, Binay has limited his answers to flat denials, the latest in a 20-minute speech he made at a press conference beamed live on nationwide tv. He has consistently refused to appear before the Senate despite several invitations. In that speech, Binay called the accusations hearsay. And that just about brings the score somewhat even.

The parade of witnesses at the Senate hearings all had very damning statements to make, including those that damned their own selves. But nothing in the form of real hard evidence was presented. So Binay apparently chose to respond in kind with mere statements of his own. No hard evidence thrown, no hard evidence thrown back. If this becomes a mere verbal exchange, the whole exercise will eventually stale and the audience will fall asleep.

In such a fight, it will be difficult to dislodge Binay from his commanding lead. He may lose a few points here and there, but only among those who have time to listen to anything said on tv. To those who spend most of their time trying to find something to put on the table, they probably have long made up their minds, as suggested by the consistency of the survey results.

Binay may have understood this more than his enemies. When he cancelled his presscon the first time to go instead to areas hit by a recent typhoon, there is a clue there that his enemies might find useful -- which is that Binay has long discovered that it takes more than a televised hearing to make him lose. If anyone wants to beat Binay, he has to take the fight to where Binay is strong. And that is among the masses. It was not tv but the masses that made him VP, remember?