Sisters act

No, this is not about a hilarious movie but a reality in the Philippine corridors of power. Since the time Benigno Aquino took his oath of office as President, we have not heard of his sisters taking interest in political matters. Indeed they are seen mostly in non-partisan affairs.

But as each day comes closer to their brother leaving office into an uncertain future, the sisters are starting to act, to play power politics to protect him, when he leaves office in 2016.

Reports say that the sisters are lobbying for the adoption of Vice President Jejomar Binay as the official candidate of Aquino’s Liberal Party. As the surveys say Binay is a shoo-in for the presidency, the sisters are lobbying for him. This appears intended to set a protective wall around their brother who would be deluged with cases of graft, thanks mainly to Budget Secretary Butch Abad.

(Why is the word “bad” glued to this man – He is with the bad yet, author of a bad scheme to fleece nation of billions, and finally his family name has a “bad” in it, This smells bad.)

The logic in the sisters’ act seems to be that if Binay becomes president, he would not run after their brother and throw him with Gloria Arroyo and senators into jail. The senators are still innocent until proven guilty but Aquino had damaged them enough to make them disgraced personalities.

We can expect that these senators with a large number of loyal followers will work and vote against Aquino. Their combined political power will tip the balance in 2016.

The logic in the action of the three sisters is therefore clear enough.

In the process, however, the three sisters are alienating Mar Roxas and practically sending him into the dustbin of history. He might be offered a vice –presidential slot in 2016, but will that serve him right? He already sacrificed in favor of Aquino in 2010 and it is possible he was promised the presidency at the time. He could not have stepped aside after spending millions just for the love of PNoy. There had to be a quid pro quo.

It is also known that the three sisters supported Binay in 2010 instead of Roxas. Mar Roxas then owes them nothing; in fact the support of the three sisters is seen as the crucial factor in the defeat of Roxas and the victory of Binay.

That they are now pushing Binay to lead the administration slate gives us the idea that there surely would be an exchange for that support. Keeping their brother out of jail and into a shameful end is a logical conclusion.

If Aquino were as clean as a whistle today as in 2010, the intervention of the three sisters would be a major factor, but today Aquino is no longer the knight in shining armor as he was. In fact, he is now considered a failure. The continuing decline in his satisfaction rating indicates this slide.

The loss of confidence in Aquino has gone down from 45 to 29 and can still go down. A survey post the Supreme Court decision on the unconstitutionality of the Disbursement Acceleration Fund and the revelations of how the money was used to bribe Congress can show that his popularity has irretrievably sunk.

He is now a lame duck president and many yellow army followers could jump like rats from a sinking ship.

The plot of the three sisters is thus a self-survival effort and so far, only Binay provides the highest possibility of saving their brother.

But will people continue to support Binay if he becomes the candidate of the Liberal Party? Will the opposition go with him? Will the people vote for him knowing that he would use the power of the Presidency to prevent Aquino from accounting for the billions he took and spent?

There is the ridiculous defense that Aquino did not take a cent of those billions. He is not a thief, he declared. But the law does not exculpate a public officer of accountability and punishment if he did not benefit financially from the crime of graft and corruption. Aquino approved all those disbursements.

There are many who consider Binay a corrupt official. That may not be true, but if people connect the dots in the plot of the three sisters, Binay can be the victim.

Roxas, if rejected and campaigns on the platform of making the culprits in the Aquino government accountable, can still win.*        

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