Sentimental choice
What is this? Mar Roxas remains the Liberal Party "sentimental choice" for president in 2016, says Budget secretary Butch Abad. If I were Roxas, and my eyes still moist at the thought of the presidency, I would now be very greatly disturbed by what I am hearing. What Abad has just said is very ominous for what he did not say than for what he did.
I could, of course, be wrong but I think Abad was just trying to be cute. If someone tells me I am her sentimental choice, it would be like telling me her heart goes out to me but that her head tells her otherwise. Roxas is too old to fall for that trick. If the Liberal Party does not want him, it should be as plain as day to him. He should not wait for the ice bucket to come.
Abad may be the partymate of Roxas but Roxas should be very wary of him. Abad is very good at euphemisms. Isn't he in fact the conjurer of presidential pork as Disbursement Acceleration Program? Moreover, Abad is not just any Liberal Party wimp. He is untouchable even by the president. He carries more weight that anybody has given him credit for. You sit up and listen when he speaks for his words are instructive.
Sentimental choice, my ass. Abad has just let the cat out of the bag. And while I concede nothing is over until it is over, I am very convinced at this point that Abad has just said what will eventually be said without mincing words. The Liberal Party has probably realized that the next presidency cannot be won on the mere strength of sentimentality. That was probably what preoccupied the mind of Abad, hence the slip, in a cute sort of way.
Abad is not really the first to give the clearest sign yet that all is not well with his presidential plans. In fact, it was no less than Noynoy Aquino himself who did when he extolled his close ties with Vice President Jejomar Binay, who has made no secret of his own presidential plans. When Noynoy let on his closeness with Binay, in a speech that was about continuity, it struck a chord in the Aquino family, with the presidential sisters chiming in assent.
When Noynoy said what he said, it could not have been anything but deliberate. He was, after all, reading from a prepared speech. He had all the time to review it and ponder on the consequences of what he was about to say. When he went ahead and said it anyway, it was because he wanted to actually say it. It was therefore no longer just a hint but an unsaid declaration.
If Roxas did not see the writing on the wall then, he ought to see it now, even if encrypted in a euphemism. Feelings do not catapult or keep a party in power but that a strong and viable candidate does. This is precisely the reason why the political opposition is sticking to its guns with Binay despite the controversies hounding him. Despite Binay's falling numbers, they are still way above those of Roxas at second.
It is probably the assumption of the opposition that Binay can outrun the accusations against him at the finish line. It is probably the assumption of Noynoy as well, if read correctly the "exit smiling" outcome of his heart-to-heart talk with Binay on the heels of the vice president's lashing out at the president in his frustration over his woes.
I think the ties that bind Noynoy and Binay are too personal to have a political price. And that is something very crucial to take note of, especially by Roxas. Roxas has to remember that the successful presidential run of Noynoy would not have been possible if it had not been anchored on who he is in relation to who his mother was. In other words, there is a very personal family thread running through the very fabric of Noynoy's presidency.
And Binay is a strand in that thread. You can say all you want against Binay. He can be the devil for anyone to care. But that is not something you can tell Noynoy to his face. If Noynoy keeps and sticks it out with his "kabarilan, kaklase" and whatever letter K friends that he has, all the more that he should stick it out and keep with his personal family friends.
Indeed, all that talk about "Noy-Bi" way back in 2010 should have given Roxas some cause for pause and reflection. At the very least, it should be worthwhile for him to revisit all that talk. For if Roxas still won't give up his plans for 2016, then it is time he starts building on a Plan B or a Plan C or whatever number of alternative plans he can come up with.
Last week there was already talk of a plan to remove Binay from the vice presidency by way of impeachment. Those behind the supposed move are identified with Roxas. But this was quickly opposed by other Liberal Party members believed to be sympathetic to Binay. A schism in the Liberal Party is the last thing Roxas needs in his run for the presidency, considering that organization is his only real chance of making it to Malacanang.
And that is the saddest thing about politics in this country, when to be a leader who cannot get elected on your own merits but would have to depend on money, organization, or worse -- the destruction of your enemies. Until this country can unite behind a vote cast in recognition of a candidate's qualities and qualifications, we will forever be ruled by someone we cannot wait to get rid of and replace.
- Latest
