Local Connection
Jojo Binay gears up for 2010
It seems that the list of candidates in 2010 for president of the Republic is limited to a few people, mostly members of the Senate. These candidates, and their followers, are probably unaware that someone in Makati City is aiming for the county’s highest post.
So far, only the following names have been mentioned by pundits: Noli de Castro, Manny Villar, Mar Roxas, Loren Legarda and Panfilo Lacson. National Artist Napoleon Abueva and Times columnist Danny Mariano floated the name of business executive Manny Pangilinan as the ideal president, but there’s no word from PLDT.
Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay does not hide his intentions for 2010, saying recently that he was “open” to a draft. But he qualified that there are many things to be considered before one goes into battle for the presidency. Binay is saying these things after a landslide victory in the last elections leading to his ultimate term.
If Binay finally pushes through with his plan, he would have one advantage over the other opposition possibilities. As chairman of the UNO, the opposition coalition that acted as the opposition umbrella in the May 14 polls, he would be a natural choice for presidential standard-bearer. Binay would have the first crack at carrying the opposition “franchise.”
I mention the word franchise because in our multiparty system, the support of the party or the coalition is still needed. In premartial-law days, the Nacionalista Party and the Liberal Party were the franchises. In 2010, whoever gets the franchise for the opposition or the administration’s would have a chance of getting elected. Third parties or coalitions, as recent experience have shown, would have difficulty in coming up with a viable national campaign network.
For example, who will carry the administration franchise in 2010? I think it would be Vice President Noli de Castro who is expected to get the support of President GMA and her political allies. With de Castro as the standard bearer of the administration, he would have an automatic mass following all over the archipelago.
If they want to be in the presidential derby with some chances of winning, Loren, Mar, Ping and Manny would have to look for their own franchises—although they have now their own small parties and clubs. As Ping has found out in the last presidential election, it is not easy to mount a national campaign without a national organization backed up by funds and an established network.
Of course, Manny and, probably, Ping have a chance to get the opposition franchise if they are able to convince the group of former President Joseph Estrada. But the way things look now, Binay has already the edge, being in control of UNO that groups the opposition parties.