ENQUIRY
DEMAREE J.B. RAVAL
Binay: Man of the Moment
Sunday, 06 13, 2010
DEMAREE J.B. RAVAL
Binay: Man of the Moment
Sunday, 06 13, 2010
Forty-four years ago, in 1966, Jejomar Cabauatan Binay was one of those juvenile, irrepressible, slogan-chanting students who picketed the Manila Hotel and embarrassed the then occupant of Malacanang when they harangued visiting US President Lyndon Johnson with the chant, “Hey, hey, LBJ, how many kids did you kill today?” during the Philippines-Indonesia-Malaysia- Thailand Summit Conference.
Forty years later, in 2006, a more grown-up but still irrepressible Binay again embarrassed another occupant of Malacanang, when he barricaded himself inside the Makati City Hall in defiance of a suspension order that was a transparent maneuver of the Palace to distract attention from its own scandals. The stand-off would have sparked an ugly, rebellion among Makati’s poor had not the court issued an injunctive order, thereby preventing the Office of the President from enforcing its suspension order.
Three months ago, Binay was a dark rider on a pale horse - a “maiden,” in the lingo of racehorse owners - who, almost unobtrusively, took his place among jockey thoroughbreds, two of them senators of national reknown, at the starting line in the race for the vice-presidential position. Binay was even handicapped by a black propaganda of having played “stud” to some other filly, an issue that was promptly squelched by an honest, manful admission.
Five weeks ago, who would ever think that Binay, who spurred his horse with a leisurely trot, would find his full gallop at the homestretch and outrun the seasoned thoroughbreds?
Who would ever expect that Binay would come this far so soon? Who would ever think that Binay could make that quantum leap from mayor to vice-president, besting the record of his running mate, who had to start as mayor, then get elected as senator, as vice-president, and then president? I did and, obviously, the 14,501,307 who voted for him last May 10.
On January 6, 2008, this co-alumnus from the UP Preparatory School was my Man of the Year 2007 in this space. I wrote about him then, thus:
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“The opposition in 2007 was endlessly mocked by apologists of the administration. as having no leader qualified to sit at Malacañang if and when.. The opposition, as the lackeys of Arroyo delighted in picturing it, was but a ragtag gaggle of ambitious wannabes, each one of whom desperately wanted to lead….I say hogwash to these obsequious statements, which are actually said more in secret awe of the large roster of qualified men and women in the opposition. It betrays more the uneasiness of those in the administration over the tremors that have been rocking the foundations of the Arroyo government….Binay, better by far than most, has kept the flame of the opposition burning since that grand theft of the May 2004 elections. He had effectively shepherded the surly rage of the corps of FPJ supporters who were orphaned by the death of FPJ. He has never wavered in the fight to bring out the truth in the shameful and shameless election of Arroyo….The loyalty of Binay to the cause of the opposition is without question. Ask the man on the street, and he’d probably tell you that Binay moves around in his crusades without any effort to be recognized….By force of his performance and dedication, he is the leader, albeit the dark horse (pun unintended), who could meet head on and buck off Arroyo’s rusty knights.”
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More that the president-elect, Binay is my Man of the Moment. His rise to the vice-presidency is never a tale of the workings of Destiny or a happy result of the death of a beloved. The voters who put him where he is now knew exactly what he stood for. They jumped over party lines and chose one whose heart beats for the poor and underprivileged, from whose ranks he rose. Binay, they felt, knows how to respond to their needs, as he did when he was mayor of Makati.
Indeed, it is no fawning declaration from a resident of that city when he claims that the poor do not get sick in Makati; that the underprivileged could die and be buried in dignity; that people can walk down the streets and feel comparatively safer than they would if they were somewhere else. His performance as a seven-term mayor has transformed the face of Makati, a feat never before attained by any other local executive, whether mayor or governor, in the Philippines. Surely, what he has done to Makati, he can replicate in the whole country.
Binay won because his persona best exemplifies the way the opposition against the Arroyo government should comport itself once it assumes the seat of power. Second, Binay has the distinction of having ingrained himself deeply in the psyche of every Filipino who longs for good governance. Third, his influence on the course our country is taking is the consequence of his own ingenuous - or ever ingenious - acts of asserting his will over people and events. And, fourth, he has defined the mores of contemporary society or, at least, provoked the nation into some soul searching.
Having reached this far, Binay is now the right man for the Department of Interior and Local Government. The reservations of a proprietarial few - yes, there exist people who are determined to keep the president-elect within a circle of close relatives, die-hard friends, classmates and “Mommy’s devotees” - and who think that Binay might use this cabinet post to catapult himself to the presidency in 2016, should be dismissed outright, if the incoming administration is genuinely committed to good governance and sincere on its promises to the people.
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More that the president-elect, Binay is my Man of the Moment. His rise to the vice-presidency is never a tale of the workings of Destiny or a happy result of the death of a beloved. The voters who put him where he is now knew exactly what he stood for. They jumped over party lines and chose one whose heart beats for the poor and underprivileged, from whose ranks he rose. Binay, they felt, knows how to respond to their needs, as he did when he was mayor of Makati.
Indeed, it is no fawning declaration from a resident of that city when he claims that the poor do not get sick in Makati; that the underprivileged could die and be buried in dignity; that people can walk down the streets and feel comparatively safer than they would if they were somewhere else. His performance as a seven-term mayor has transformed the face of Makati, a feat never before attained by any other local executive, whether mayor or governor, in the Philippines. Surely, what he has done to Makati, he can replicate in the whole country.
Binay won because his persona best exemplifies the way the opposition against the Arroyo government should comport itself once it assumes the seat of power. Second, Binay has the distinction of having ingrained himself deeply in the psyche of every Filipino who longs for good governance. Third, his influence on the course our country is taking is the consequence of his own ingenuous - or ever ingenious - acts of asserting his will over people and events. And, fourth, he has defined the mores of contemporary society or, at least, provoked the nation into some soul searching.
Having reached this far, Binay is now the right man for the Department of Interior and Local Government. The reservations of a proprietarial few - yes, there exist people who are determined to keep the president-elect within a circle of close relatives, die-hard friends, classmates and “Mommy’s devotees” - and who think that Binay might use this cabinet post to catapult himself to the presidency in 2016, should be dismissed outright, if the incoming administration is genuinely committed to good governance and sincere on its promises to the people.
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Binay has the B - for balls, to be very frank about it - to deliver and usher in a new climate of good governance, after nine years of a nightmarish descent into hell. And he’ll do it without any bulls**t.
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