MY TWO CENTS’ – Erap’s ‘Kiss of death’ for Binay and Poe

The recent endorsement of former President Joseph Estrada of Grace Poe and Bongbong Marcos is a kiss of death for at least two presidential candidates. For one, it has further hurt Jejomar Binay’s, coming from his lackluster showing in the recent presidential debates, thereby underscoring his weakness as a national candidate, presumably the barometer for gaining the support of local candidates.
Doubtless, Binay is banking on the support of all the local candidates he can get to help his suffering candidacy, organized since 2010 and once touted as the one to beat, now beaten to consistent third in the surveys. Even the San Juan bloc is publicly supporting a Roxas-Marcos tandem. Binay lost the Garcias of Cebu and now, Estrada in Manila. To begin with, he has no candidate in Davao. Having no mayoralty candidate in Manila and major urban vote centers is not good for any presidential run. The impact is magnified on Binay when he loses them. He now looks like the Mar Roxas he defeated for the Vice Presidency in 2010.
Secondly, his support of goddaughter Grace Poe only cements the belief that she is the candidate of interests with compromises- of convicted plunderers like Erap, and the network of Jueteng operators possibly supporting him. It does not help that her positions on strong issues like the coconut levy are weak and ambivalent, and that her positions like the burial of former President Marcos shift with equal frequency. This flip flopping indicates the various interests pushing themselves to grab her ear. Her lack of experience as a politician and public servant are difficult handicaps to overcome especially now that Presidential debates force you to give quick answers to difficult questions. Political ads can no longer undo what the debates revealed.
Already, her recent gaffes point out to a lack of basic knowledge State affairs. Her own response to the revelations made that her husband served in the United States Air Force are very telling, revealing her sore lack of basic knowledge regarding ones commitment to serving in foreign armed forces. She explained that her husband Neil Llamanzares does not deserve to be criticized since, according to her, his case is similar to former President Ramos and Roilo Golez who graduated from West Point and the United States Naval Aceadmy in Annapolis, Maryland, respectively.
While she may sound convincing with her modulated voice, her responses lack the simple logic that graduating from foreign military academies is different from enlisting in foreign armed forces. At this point, doubts have already been raised at the real capability of this neophyte Senator. She is a disappointment, and many will probably regret voting her into the Senate.