Trillanes gambit

Will Sen. Antonio “Sonny” Trillanes’ so-called trial by publicity of the Binays – especially Vice President Jejomar Binay and his son, beleaguered Makati Mayor Junjun Binay – work?

His latest move of accusing two Court of Appeals justices of accepting a total of P50 million  in bribes to ensure a temporary restraining order  in favor of Mayor Junjun is definitely designed to send a damaging punch. But will it?

Malacañang has been quick to distance itself from this latest tirade of the young senator, suggesting publicly, and rightly so, that accusations like this are best addressed at the Supreme Court and not on the Senate floor.

With the survey ratings of Vice President Binay gradually rising from what appeared like a free fall for months last year, Trillanes is seeking anew to bring his alleged personal crusade against him back on track after the Mamasapano massacre of January 25 hogged the headlines and buried his crusade into the doldrums.

Unfortunately, the anti-Binay camp apparently did not expect any derailment of a phased expose’ of the Binays. After all, an event like that of the Mamasapano massacre where 44 troopers of the Special Action Forces  were senselessly slaughtered, was not something anyone expected. Neither did the anti-Binay camp foresee that a protracted and often feisty debate over the Bangasamoro Basic Law  would actually occupy the final months of the Aquino presidency.

Now comes therefore the continuing attack on the Binays, led single-handedly by a one-time ally, now a bitter enemy. Political pundits are eagerly awaiting the next survey results to see if this latest accusation has made a dent on the approval ratings (read: presidential future) of Jejomar Binay.

Meanwhile, rumors are rife among political quarters that Pres. Benigno Aquino has already accepted a fait accompli that his political party, the Liberal Party, will have to anoint Binay as its standard bearer if only to prevent Aquino from ending up like his predecessor, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, whom he unceremoniously sent to prison.

A faction in Malacañang – the same one that won for Binay the vice-presidency – is whispered to be dangling this offer. Otherwise, should Binay end up with the presidency next year minus any support from Aquino, he might just be persuaded by the many supporters who are egging to file cases against the latter – and presumably against Trillanes – for what they perceive as a witch-hunt aimed clearly at preventing precisely the specter they fear the most: that of a Binay presidency.

It would not be remote to imagine, for one, that the supporters of the ousted Supreme Court chief justice Renato Corona, with all their brilliant legal minds, are now preparing cases against  Aquino in the light of revelations about his role in the Mamasapano debacle.

The Trillanes gambit, if it works, might yet give Aquino and his supposed president-in-waiting Mar Roxas breathing space to allow the Liberal Party to survive beyond this presidency. Alas, this view runs counter to historical fact that  every political party since Pres. Corazon Aquino allowed a multi-party system, has not survive beyond the sitting president. And if two presidents are sent to prison, there is no telling if a third one won’t follow the same fate.

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Let me congratulate my good friend, Dave Bryan Latonio, on the opening of his specialty gift shop “Pickers Choice” this Saturday at 10 a.m. Pickers Choice is located along Acacia Street, just a few steps from Golden Prince Hotel and is right beside the newly opened Rico’s Lechon Restaurant. I visited Dave last Sunday as he was busy with his mom inventorying all kinds of gift items, from Japanese lucky charms to English porcelain tea sets and Czech Bohemian glass vases. The public is also invited to partake of snack at 3 o’clock in the afternoon of the same day.

Enjoy picking!