Trillanes says better Binay than Duterte
by Jose Rizal M. Reyes / poet-philosopher, Philippines / January 7, 2016
Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV might have just expressed what many people are thinking — that Mayor Rodrigo Duterte of Davao City would make a much worse president than Vice President Jejomar Binay.
In other words, better Binay than Duterte, a classic example of choosing the lesser evil.
According to a recent Philippine Daily Inquirer report, “Trillanes also dreads a Binay presidency, but would accept it if the people elect him as the country’s next leader.”
Trillanes is a well-known vocal critic of the vice president and they even famously challenged each other to a public debate not so long ago, which did not materialize. So this softening of attitude towards Binay could well be a reflection of the shifting perceptions concerning the current crop of presidential candidates in the 2016 elections.
Binay (33%) has regained the lead in the latest survey conducted by Pulse Asia from December 4 to 11, 2015. Trailing behind him are Duterte (23%), Sen. Grace Poe (21%), former DILG Sec. Mar Roxas (21%) and Sen. Miriam Santiago (4%).
Just as the popularity of Grace Poe is said to have been diminished by the uncertainty concerning her citizenship and residence, Duterte appears to have been adversely affected by his apparent use of cuss word against Pope Francis, his self-admitted closeness with the communist rebels, and photos circulating showing him kissing or petting female fans in public, among other issues.
In contrast, despite more than a year of demolition job against him and his family conducted by powerful forces, Binay was able to keep intact his core followers of 25% or thereabout.
Interestingly, Duterte himself said that in case both he and Grace Poe are disqualified from running, he would support Binay and campaign against Roxas.
In another development, the Office of the Solicitor General recently issued a statement supporting the decision of the Senate Electoral Tribunal in upholding Grace Poe as a natural-born citizen. At the same time, the OSG — which usually represents government agencies in court cases — declared that it cannot file the required comment before the Supreme Court in behalf of the COMELEC which disqualified Poe from the presidential race.
The OSG is part of the Executive Department and is perceived to be aligned with President Benigno Aquino III and the Liberal Party. One possibility is that Malakanyang and the Liberals might not be too confident about the chances of Mar Roxas nor the acceptability of victory won solely by Hocus PCOs. For reasons known fully to themselves, they dread the prospect of both a Binay presidency and a Duterte presidency. Grace Poe might be the only chance they got to evade a catastrophic fate. If the ratings of Roxas does not improve, Aquino and the Liberals might decide to escape by boarding M/V Amazing Grace. Hence, the OSG’s support of the SET decision in favor of Poe.
In the aforementioned PDI report, Trillanes warns about the danger of a Duterte presidency: “Once you start the killing, you won’t be able to stop it and everybody else would have that license to kill and hide under the cover of this guy being killed is an addict, regardless of whether he’s actually just a business rival or a personal rival,” he said.
“I can’t imagine myself saying this, but it’s going to be so much worse,” he was further quoted as saying when asked by the said paper about the prospects of Duterte becoming president.
The news report did not mention what Trillanes thinks of Duterte’s close link with the local communist movement. But it could be one of the reasons that heavily weighed in his mind, he being a former military officer. If so, he could not be expected to express it publicly because that might alienate the so-called left-leaning voters. Duterte recently announced that if he wins as president, he would offer the communists three cabinet positions — agrarian reform, social welfare and development, and environment and natural resources.
For some reason of my own, I am no admirer of Sen. Trillanes. So I couldn’t also imagine myself agreeing with him on an important national matter. But here is one instance when I wholeheartedly agree with his view, generally speaking.
(Below is the full text of the article published in Inquirer.net, the online version of the Philippine Daily Inquirer.)
Duterte worse than Binay, says Trillanes
by Leila B. Salaverria / Philippine Daily Inquirer / January 7, 2016
Foreign investors are wary of Vice President Jejomar Binay winning the presidency in May.
But for Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, it would be worst for the country if Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte gets to Malacañang, citing the controversial mayor’s statements that he had engaged in summary executions of suspected criminals.
Although he had been a constant critic of Binay in the past year after he initiated a Senate inquiry into alleged Makati anomalies, Trillanes warned that Duterte as President would be worse than Binay.
“I can’t imagine myself saying this, but it’s going to be so much worse,” he said when asked about the prospects of Duterte becoming the country’s chief executive.
Duterte’s win would be a “disaster for the country,” Trillanes said.
“His method may have worked in Davao, but it’s definitely not going to work in the national scale. You don’t run the country like that. There should be a vision, a program of action that you would actually have to enumerate,” he said.
Asked what methods he was referring to, he cited Duterte’s statements that he engaged in summary killings.
Trillanes expressed apprehension that such a practice would escalate into something worse.
“Once you start the killing, you won’t be able to stop it and everybody else would have that license to kill and hide under the cover of this guy being killed is an addict, regardless of whether he’s actually just a business rival or a personal rival. You won’t be able to stop that,” he said.
Trillanes also dreads a Binay presidency, but would accept it if the people elect him as the country’s next leader.
