It’s not a miracle but Vice President Jejomar Binay’s resurgence in the Pulse Asia and Social Weather Station (SWS) surveys, topping both near the year end, is still enough to surprise anyone who counted him out of the presidential race.
Binay’s climb back to the top, even if only temporary, showed his ability to rebound amid adversity.
Recall how Binay was far behind then-leading vice presidential candidate Mar Roxas in the surveys up to December 2009, a full six months before the May 2010 elections.
He pulled away dramatically. Binay defeated Roxas and then declared not long after his run for the presidency.
More than five years later, Binay and his family are reeling from the avalanche of graft cases filed against them by the Ombudsman and the Senate Blue Ribbon committee that caused his public satisfaction ratings to drop.
But Binay didn’t waste time moping.
He continued with his out-of-town sorties, making his presence felt in distant barangays and maintaining what he considers a consistent base of masa supporters.
Since his decline, the voting public has been treated to the circus that was Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte’s coy denials of presidential ambitions, a last-minute filing and then a backlash over Digong’s crude comments on Pope Francis as well as the citizenship debacle of Sen. Grace Poe.
Of all the candidates, Binay has spent the most time on field, engaging potential voters face-to-face. His common-tao appeal is a strong draw.
People want change. They also want someone they can relate to well. That’s what elections dangle before Filipino voters.
Faced with the dramatic twists of other candidates (including Mar Roxas’ unexpected challenge for a fistfight), maybe people decided, at that point in time when the surveys swept public opinion, to go for a sure alternative. Binay appeared to be the safe choice.
Safe in the sense that many Filipinos can’t imagine another six years of “daang matuwid” and the Aquino administration’s promises of a better life.
Reforms take time for benefits to seep to the base of the pyramid. This impatience with long-term change is something the opposition knows how to capitalize on by emphasizing unfilled promises of the Aquino administration.
With the election period starting in January, campaign teams will be stepping up the artillery to win the hearts and minds of adult Filipinos.
It’s up to voters to determine which part they see is reality and which part is a hopeless illusion.