What people miss in the Binay brouhaha

Vice President Jejomar Binay has refused to appear at the Senate. He has also backed out of a debate he himself suggested against Senator Antonio Trillanes. So what happens now? Nothing. And that is precisely what everybody in this country has missed. His enemies and critics can go to town lambasting Binay for not showing up at the Senate and for backing out of a debate he himself suggested. But when all is said and done, nothing will really happen.

Well, maybe not exactly nothing. The approval ratings of Binay will probably drop some more. And because it is still some way to go before the 2016 election, during which Binay is bent on running for president, maybe his enemies and critics can dig up even more dirt to convince people not to waste their vote on him. But for as long as the fight stays out of the proper venue, which is the courts, Binay can always tough it up until the election and there take his chances.

People can say all they want against Binay. They can believe every allegation that has been hurled against him. The allegations may in fact be even all true. But there are only two ways in which Binay can be prevented from becoming president. One is to derail his candidacy. But that can only be achieved by impeachment or by conviction in a court of law, none of which seems inspiring to his enemies and critics.

The only other way to prevent Binay from becoming president is also the most obvious. And that is to deny him the vote. Yet, as obvious as it is, his enemies and critics have not chosen to take the fight to the voters. Ironically, it is Binay himself who is doing so. His enemies and critics froth in the mouth attacking him in the Senate and in every available space and air time in media, but it is Binay who is shaking hands and hugging babies all across the islands.

The enemies and critics of Binay will never meet success in their politics if they fail to understand one basic thing about Filipino voters. Filipino voters, especially the poor masses which comprise the biggest chunk of what it takes to win, do not take much to win over. Often, a simple handshake or hug will do. The poor have felt so neglected and ignored for so long that merely acknowledging their physical existence melts their livers.

Pictures on tv and words on radio and in newspapers make for very cold indicators of ability or measures of character. Nothing beats the human touch of a warm hug and a firm handshake. And it is Binay who seems to understand this more than his enemies and his critics. Binay can be as guilty as hell. But he is the one kissing the babies and making the housewives giggle.

To be sure, popularity with the masses will not erase any guilt on the part of Binay, if he indeed is guilty. But that is the reality of what we are facing today as a nation. And I doubt very much if things can change overnight by just beating our breasts, which sad to say is sometimes done more in self-righteousness and hypocrisy than from an honest conviction and earnest resolve.

In fact, more and more Filipinos have grown cynical after having been betrayed by Noynoy Aquino, who made Filipinos believe he was earnest in running after the corrupt but who in reality only pursued corrupt enemies but protected and defended his corrupt friends and supporters. It will take more time and even greater effort for Filipinos to start believing again that anything good can ever come out of political promises.

That is why I am really amazed at how people can lose their breath condemning Binay for refusing to appear in the Senate and yet completely ignore the fact that the Senate lies at the very bottom of credibility surveys to which they themselves responded and gave their ratings to. When you get into a contradiction like that, is it still any wonder why our politics have never matured?

If Binay is as corrupt as he is being alleged, then the fight should be taken to where it matters. The fight should be taken directly to the people, to the electorate. Between now and 2016, there is still time to catch up with Binay despite the headstart he now seems to enjoy. Unless his enemies and critics wisen up, they will wake up one day to find Binay already at the finish line.

The Senate and the media are not where the fight is. If at all, such venues have limited audiences, who if they tire, will become even more sparse. Worse, it only takes so little for a good thing to backfire. An audience that finds what is going on in the Senate and the media interesting one day can quickly find it hateful the next, and God help those caught when the rip tide comes in.

Binay's enemies and critics can stick it out in the Senate and in the media for as long as they care, even right up to the election in 2016. But how many votes do they think they can swing for or against Binay that way? Sympathetic and believing audiences in their homes and offices are not the same as votes in the polling places, and will never be as many.

So if Binay's enemies and critics want to beat him, they must beat him in his own game. As it is now, it is Binay who is beating them. They may have succeeded in painting Binay in the worst possible light. But it is Binay who is out there, free as a bird, while they remain cooped in the Senate, waiting and getting humiliated and angry, bad for the health. Right now Binay is getting the exercise and the fresh air. If his enemies and critics don't watch out, he may get the Palace as well.