Philippine STAR lunch with Binay

Vice President Jojo Binay was kind enough to bring more than birthday cakes to the staffers of the Philippine STAR. He paid for a sumptuous lunch when he came to visit us. Thank you, Mr. Vice President.

While I was eating my roast beef, he said from across the table from me, “Shoot, Chit.” So I shot two questions to him:

“Mr. Vice President, as you must have heard in addition to being a columnist of the Philippine Star, I am the founder of BayanKo and the Secretary for Public Information of the Katipunan Party that was recently formed to group together federations and groups of marginalized sectors – workers, farmers, fisherfolks. Both BayanKo and the Katipunan are advocating a switch to a parliamentary federal form of government to replace the current presidential system that oligarchs and family dynasties have dominated to the exclusion of the marginalized sectors.

I have two questions. My first question to you is this: You originally came from a poor family and I like to believe your heart is with the marginalized sectors. Are you in favor of amending the Constitution to shift to a parliamentary federal system? If not, why not? And if you are, are you willing to state publicly and unequivocally your position on this issue? This is a question that many of our members in BayanKo and Katipunan are asking.”

The vice president gave a short reply, “There are different kinds of parliaments, so it is being studied by a committee. I prefer more local autonomy to a federal system.”

I then asked him a second question: “The PCOS automated voting system has been criticized by many IT experts as being deeply flawed. Comelec chairman Andy Bautista stated and I quoted him in one of my columns that while he will do his best he cannot guarantee there will be no hacking and cheating in the 2016 elections. Bautista was just being honest. In an automated system, it is practically impossible to trace where cheating comes from. If you cannot avoid hacking or cheating, what is the point of elections? Would it not be better to switch back to a manual system?”

The vice president did not answer my question on a manual system. What he told me if there is cheating, he will resort to People Power.

He also told me that he was the one who chose the song BayanKo that was composed by Gen. Jose Alejandrino as the battle song of Edsa I. Hurray!

He also said he expected to be arrested and detained by the Aquino government. I felt sorry for him.

Was I disappointed by the vice president’s answer to shift to a new form of government? I had been hoping that coming originally from a poor family, he would champion the need for the marginalized sectors of our society to have a wider representation in the national decision-making process that had been denied by a presidential system dominated by rich oligarchs and family dynasties due to the high cost of running for public office. But looking back at his answer to refer the matter to further study, I am not surprised. It was a copt-out, the kind of answer one expects from traditional politicians who are now rich and satisfied with the established order. As I said in my answer to his letter to me published in a previous column, it is not by handing out birthday cakes – mere crumbs – that he can lift the poor out of poverty.

Of all the potential candidates for the presidency, only Rodrigo Duterte has come out unequivocally for a parliamentary federal system. It shows all the other candidates as not favoring constitutional reform, despite their pretensions to uplifting the poor marginalized sectors in high-sounding programs. Without constitutional reform to a parliamentary system that will guarantee fair representation, what these candidates are offering is cheap rhetoric. By avoiding the issue, these candidates, like all traditional politicians, have merely aligned themselves with the oligarchs and family dynasties that have been responsible for the ills in our country, in the same manner they betrayed the Philippine Revolution in the film “Heneral Luna.” They have shown themselves incapable of rising to the national interest in order to protect their vested interests.

Binay said if he is cheated at the 2016 polls, he will call for People Power. But I doubt the people will follow him because he has shown on which side of the fence he stands. His falling popularity in the surveys does not augur well for his presidential bid. It might be a manifestation the people are tired of corruption and old politics. He could have arrested the fall by taking a bold step towards constitutional reform that has been steadily gaining ground in the social media. I could be wrong, but his wishwashy stance may be his Waterloo.

On family dynasties, he said, “If the person is good, there is no reason why that person should be excluded from politics.” It is understandable a father should think all his children are good and geniuses like Nancy. That is why he positioned them in politics.

He suggested that if former CJ Reynato Puno wants to campaign for constitutional reform “he should work from the inside.” What I understood by that remark is that Puno should limit himself to judicial reform.

On the question of the Spratlys, the vice president wants to work with China on joint projects without surrendering our claims. This is a sensible approach.

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I asked BayanKo adviser Jose Alejandrino his views on the presidential and vice presidential candidates. Here are his answers:

Grace Poe? The nation’s woe.

Mar? The diminishing star.

Jojo Binay? Naku, Inay!

Rudy D? To be or not to be.

Bongbong? A dropout can do no wrong.

Leni? She has no penny.

Chiz? Great at show biz.

I asked him, “Who will you vote for?” He said, “My horse Becephulus. He has more horse sense.”