Recently, results of the surveys of the Social Weather Station and Pulse Asia showed that Sen. Grace Poe has dislodged Vice President Jejomar Binay with Poe getting 30 percent and Binay 22 percent ratings.
Binay’s decreasing score is basically his own making. With all the accusations of corruption against him by some senators, Binay has refused to directly answer the allegations and just say these are all politically motivated.
In fairness to Binay, despite all the allegations against him in the Senate committee and the Office of the Ombudsman, Binay has not been found guilty by the courts and thus enjoys the constitutional presumption of innocence.
The question is can Binay still recover from his decline in survey ratings? I think he can.
Some are saying that if Binay directly answers the allegations against him the minds of the people would be disabused of the impression that he’s corrupt.
Binay has time on his side to answer the allegations against him and turn the tables on his accusers like Sen. Allan Cayetano and Sen. Antonio Trillanes.
Ironically, the most recent Pulse Asia survey released June 22 showed that Binay is perceived as the most trusted top government official, obtaining the “only majority trust rating” in this quarter.
The survey conducted from May 30 to June 5 showed Binay with a 57% trust rating, a 15-percentage point increase from 42% last March. He’s ahead of Senate President Franklin Drilon and President Aquino.
Binay resigned from the cabinet last week, a move welcomed by the opposition and frowned upon by some administration officials especially since Binay’s first speech attacked the Aquino administration.
Binay can take advantage of his resignation by continually exposing anomalies in the Aquino administration. Binay can be an effective fiscalizer in the various controversies like the Mamasapano incident and the pork barrel issue.
Binay could lead in opposing the use of the precinct count optical scanner (PCOS) units in the forthcoming 2016 election. If Binay plays his cards well I think he would be able to regain his position as the front-runner among presidentiables.
Grace Poe apparently has not yet made up her mind about running for president because she is hounded by issues of her residency and citizenship, and the identity of her real parents. (She still is the subject of old rumors that she is the daughter of the late president Ferdinand Marcos and Rosemarie Sonora.)
The drawback of a Poe candidacy is that she is completely inexperienced when it comes to governance, which is very important for one who intends to run for president. We haven’t heard Poe’s take on major national issues like the dispute with China over the West Philippine Sea.
Secretary Mar Roxas who is touted to be the Liberal Party’s standard-bearer has not fared well in the surveys.
Former senator Panfilo Lacson is one good potential presidential candidate because of his track record of honesty and integrity in government service.
Davao Mayor Rodrigo Duterte recently declared that he is no longer interested in running for president. Senators Cayetano and Trillanes are also interested to run but have not fared well in the surveys.
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