Binay’s Achilles heel

VICE President Jojo Binay can never recover from the beating he got from his rivals at the second presidential debate in Cebu City on Sunday.

That will surely bring his ratings down, and cost him the presidency.

Binay was hard put replying to accusations from former Interior Secretary Mar Roxas, Sen. Grace Poe and Davao City Mayor Rody Duterte that he was corrupt and, therefore, not fit to become President.

Binay, a lawyer, became legalistic in his answers: He has not yet been convicted of the corruption charges against him, so he’s presumed innocent.

But he didn’t answer the accusations directly and was   evasive.

Binay accused Poe of leaving the country and becoming a US citizen when the latter brought up the corruption charges against him during the first few minutes of the debate.

The Vice President’s evasive answers to corruption allegations against him made millions of people realize why he didn’t attend the Senate hearings on the alleged gross overpricing of the Makati City Hall parking building.

Even his most rabid followers—the unthinking and ignorant—have probably changed their minds about voting for him.

Binay was cornered and looked helpless at the second presidential debate.

He tried to seek refuge from his notes or documents he brought with him to the podium, but he was told he would be  violating the rules in the debate.

The Vice President’s insistence that he should be allowed to bring notes to the debate—which the Commission on Elections said violated its rules—delayed the start of the debate for one and a half hours.

Binay argued for one a half hours with TV5 organizers, led by Luchi Cruz, and Commission on Elections officials at the scene, headed by Comelec Chair Andres Bautista, over  bringing the  documents.

He blamed Cruz, who looked like she didn’t do her homework, for allowing him to do so.

Cruz apologized for her mistake, but Binay still took the notes with him to the debate, anyway.

Binay’s refusal to follow the no-notes rule in the second presidential debate—he still brought documents with him to the podium—is characteristic of the Vice President.

He is too arrogant to follow regulations.

In one instance, Binay’s convoy of cars went against the flow of traffic in the opposite direction on a highway in Laguna province  to overtake a long line of vehicles stuck in traffic on his lane.

Sirens blared when the Vice President’s convoy moved around, completely ignoring President Noynoy’s admonition to all against using sirens in the first days of his administration.

If Binay becomes President, it is most likely he will violate all the statutes in the book.

You’d  be out of your mind if you vote for Binay.

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It would not be surprising if Binay doesn’t attend the third and final televised presidential debate.

He might set the precondition that the corruption charges against him in the Office of the Ombudsman or Sandiganbayan should not be taken up during the debate.

Or, he might come up with all kinds of excuses, like being sick on the day of the debate.

He knows that attacks against him by his rivals will become stronger than the last debate.

The corruption allegation is Binay’s Achilles heel.

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