Whatever happened to Mar Roxas and Jojo Binay?

Mar Roxas and Jojo Binay are too different from each other, but they shared the same fate during the last midterm polls.

There is simply too much of a variance between the “hoi polloi” in Jejomar C. Binay and the illustrado Manuel Araneta Roxas II. But there are also strange commonalities between them. Both ran for vice president in 2010, Jojo as the running mate of the unsung presidential candidate, Bayani Fernando, and Mar for the then winning presidential bet, Benigno Aquino III. Roxas thought it was Loren Legarda, the running mate of Manuel Villar, who threatened his vice presidential bid. No one thought Binay had a Chinaman's chance. But the rest is history. Binay defeated Loren and Mar in one of the biggest upsets in Philippine political history.

During last week's elections, Roxas run for senator with Otso Diretso of the Liberal Party. He lost to such characters as Lito Lapid, Bong Revilla, and Nancy Binay. He even got less votes than JV Ejercito and, of all people, Jinggoy Estrada. Mar had the advantage of logistics, his campaign was well-funded. The LP, including former president Noynoy and former Senate president Frank Drilon supported him. He had a lot of TV and radio ads. His wife is a top TV personality. He belongs to a family with money, land, and business empires. He is the son of the late vice presidential bet and LP president Gerry Roxas, and grandson and namesake of President Manuel Roxas who defeated Don Sergio Osmeña. Above all, he is a former senator. Yet he was beaten by neophytes like Bong Go and Bato dela Rosa. What happened?

Jojo Binay was a former vice president who ran for congressman in the Makati district of which he was the unquestioned lord and leader for so many decades. His daughter and son were fighting for mayor. He was a multi-term mayor there since 1986 when then President Cory Aquino appointed him OIC, choosing him over such socialites as Conchitina Bernardo and Aurora Pijuan. Jojo Binay was the virtual king of Makati. When he was prevented from running again for mayor, he let his own wife, Dra. Elenita replace him and she won with practically no credible opposition. Then, he let his son, Junjun, take over as mayor, and when the latter was suspended for alleged plunder, he let his daughter Abby take over. Kid Peña was just the underling, subaltern, and perennial vice mayor. Now Jojo lost to the subaltern he nurtured and grew.

What happened to Jojo and Mar is a landmark in our political history. It could only mean there is nothing permanent in Philippine politics, and politics anywhere for that matter. No permanent and lasting right to one's position could ever be claimed by anyone. These two were overconfident, especially Jojo Binay. He never thought Peña, who was his creation in Makati, would ever bite the hand that fed him, so to speak. But it was Peña who exposed his and Junjun's practices in Makati, leading to the defeat of Jojo Binay in his presidential bid in 2016. No one should ever underestimate the wards we care for and build up. They know our secrets and time will come when they will devour us.

But all is fair in politics. Perhaps Jojo and Mar somehow deserve their respective fates. They must have hurt some people and they are just paying their debts via karma and “gaba.” I hope they can recover from the massive debacle they just suffered.