Binay resignation ‘dramatic move’ to make headlines, says analyst
Vice President Jejomar Binay turns serious as he answers questions at a media forum in Manila on June 10. The timing of Binay’s resignation from his Cabinet posts is “perfect,” according to a political analyst. JOAN BONDOC
The timing of the resignation of Vice President Jejomar Binay from his Cabinet posts on Monday was “perfect,” a political analyst said on Tuesday.
De La Salle University (DLSU) political science professor Antonio Contreras said Binay’s move to resign from President Benigno Aquino III’s Cabinet was a way for him to be recognized by the public after being eclipsed by other presidential bets.
“The timing is perfect because he wants to be talked about again. He wants to be in the middle, in the center. He was displaced by other presidential [candidates],” Contreras said in an interview over Radyo Inquirer on Monday.
READ: Fed up, Binay bolts Cabinet
With the results of a Pulse Asia survey showing that he was the most trusted and approved government official, Contreras said it was the most opportune time for Binay to do “something dramatic.”
“[Sen.] Grace Poe’s ratings jumped so you need to do something dramatic so that you can also be talked about. So, that’s why he bolted from the administration. This politics is a game of perception. It is a show,” the professor added.
In the recent Social Weather Stations (SWS) and Pulse Asia surveys, the first-termer senator zoomed past Binay to be the presidential candidate preferred by voters to replace Aquino in 2016.
He cautioned the public from subscribing to the results of the survey.
“Don’t believe in surveys. Those surveys are being used by politicians for their campaign. We should be the ones to think and consider what is important for us. We should be discerning about candidates. We should consider the candidate who will bring us to a place where there is no food shortage, no environmental destruction and there is peace and order,” he added.
Binay tendered his irrevocable resignation on Monday from being the chief of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council and the presidential adviser on overseas Filipino workers affairs. In an interview, Makati Rep. Abigail Binay said her father was tired from being treated as a punching bag under the Aquino administration.
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