Snowballs in hell

‘What can Jojo Binay be doing right to explain his rise in the poll surveys?’

From the November 19, 2009 Malaya
ROMEO Y. LIM

LOOKING at the recent Pulse Asia survey, I was not very surprised except for a few entries.

As expected, Senator Noynoy Aquino led the presidential survey at 44 percent with his running mate Senator Mar Roxas also leading the vice-presidentiable s with 37 percent.

Well, considering the initial volley of 51-61 percent in previous localized surveys of Senator Noynoy, I think the 44 percent seems to be a predictable figure nationwide. And, with the exodus of Lakas members to the Liberal Party, we can expect an exodus of support from Gibo to Noynoy.

In the senatorial preferences, I can still see the same names of those who participated in previous senatorial races. Awareness is basically an important factor in these surveys and from the looks of it, we will just be returning the same senators except for a few newbies who are nonetheless well known such as Willie Revillame and Edu Manzano (who has announced his candidacy as vice-president of Secretary Gilbert Teodoro).

What surprised me though, was the performance of Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay. Since I am not really a survey fan, I do not look at the procession of surveys that pummel the media at regular intervals. I vote according to conscience and not influence. I do, however, take a peek every now and then just to familiarize myself so I am not mistaken for living under a rock.

From the last time I looked at the surveys, which was several months ago, Mayor Binay was languishing at the bottom of the heap. In fact, he could not even make it to one percent.

But now I am surprised that he has garnered 13 percent of the total respondents sharing space with the once very popular Vice-President Noli de Castro. In fact, he has even surpassed Senator Jinggoy Estrada as a probable vice-presidentiable although Jinggoy is set on running for senator in a margin that puts him on top of all other senatoriables.

When I wrote about a friend’s observation of a potential Noynoy-Binay win some weeks back, I must admit that I took my friend’s observation with a grain of salt. With the popularity of Senator Mar Roxas back then and even now as a vice-presidentiable topnotcher, I thought Binay had the same chance as a snowball in hell.

But the recent survey has made me sit up and notice. What can he be doing right?

In fact in the most vote-rich region in the country, the National Capital Region, he beats Loren by as much as 7 percent and falls behind Mar only by 10 percent. Forgive my incredulity but again, this man was way, way behind the surveys managing a miniscule .1 percent in a survey only several months back.

A political analyst commented that most presidentiables and vice-presidentiable s often talk about what they can and will do for the country.

Perhaps, Binay’s appeal comes from saying what he has actually done for his city and translating this into doing this for the country.

Perhaps, his growing appeal lies in his own persona. A self-made man, he has shown that it is possible to make this country great again without the booming rhetoric but with a determined vision.

He just means what he says. And, in the world of politics this way of doing things is as rare as a snowball in hell.

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