First, a disclosure: I don’t like Jejomar Binay. I don’t like how he has always treated Makati City as his private little fiefdom. I don’t like how his family members have “succeeded” him as mayor. I don’t like how he insists that the number coding traffic scheme be observed without exception in Makati even though elsewhere in Metro Manila, the MMDA has relaxed the rule by allowing a 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. window when number coding wouldn’t be enforced. So, what is Makati — not subject to MMDA rules so long as it is “ruled” by a Binay? Just because Mr. Binay came up with the number coding scheme, it doesn’t follow that there is a need to immortalize it, even if only within his jurisdiction, just to make sure that people don’t forget who thought about it first. Talk about thinking small.
A second disclosure: I don’t like the idea of government officials having official residences. It’s so darn feudal. We elect them, we pay them for the work they do and, what — we still have to pay for their comfortable homes and the non-galunggong dinners for their entire families? And not only that — we have to pay for their brats’ airconditioned rooms too? And their chauffeurs and airconditioned cars? Bah! That’s too much. We elect officials but in electing them, we don’t take on a concomitant responsibility of providing comfort for their families. Otherwise, we might as well adopt a system similar to that in Europe during the Middle Ages when lords owned everything that the King granted to them and they lived in reinforced castles in total comfort while the rest of the people lived in poverty.
Come to think of it — are we really so different? Those poor people during the feudal era worked the fields and gave their “lords” a share of their harvest. Tax? Profit-sharing? Call it whatever you like — it was required. And how do we do it today? We work our asses off, we budget what we earn and we pay taxes — that too is required. And just like the poor people of Europe in the Middle Ages, the required payment makes it possible for the “lords” to live in grandeur with their “ladies” and their brats.
And that’s really what Malacañang is — a place where the President lives — okay, lived — in grandeur with his family eating meals prepared by chefs. Meals cooked from ingredients paid for by taxpayers and cooked by chefs paid by taxpayers.
If that’s not crazy enough, we have a Vice President who now demands that he be given the Coconut Palace as an “official residence” and it looks like the President will concede. And that really blew my mind. And made me curse. And made me decide I might as well go back to writing politics if only to speak out about things like the “official residence” crap.
True, the Vice Presidents entertains guests too. So, he needs a decent office — OFFICE — for that. But an “official residence”? And he wants something that is already called a “palace”, for goodness’ sakes. Just how important is a Vice President is anyway?
The concept of Vice President in our constitutional system is a copy of what is found in the U.S. form of government. Check the Constitution. It says that executive power is vested in the President — but what power is vested on the Vice President? None. Nada. Zilch. He may be appointed to the Cabinet but may means it is discretionary on the part of the President.
And yet, the Constitution also specifies that the Vice President shall have the same qualifications as the President. What for if he won’t exercise any power nor function anyway? Because the Vice President is like an understudy in a play. If the President is incapacitated, he steps in. And that’s his only function, really — to wait for the President to die or get booted out of office in some other way. And that uselessness is precisely the reason why it has been a practice to appoint the Vice President to a Cabinet position. So, he can be useful and his salary can be justified. Otherwise, it sounds screwed to pay someone just to sit around waiting for the President to die or, worse, so he can plot to take over the presidency.
From another perspective, the position of Vice President is superfluous. Why? Because the Constitution says in case of successive vacancies, the order of “succession” to the presidency is as follows: Vice President, Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives. So, why not simply remove the Vice President? The Senate President and House Speaker are both elected officials anyway so if either becomes president, no one can say that he does not have an effective and real mandate from the electorate. What the heck do we really need a Vice President for? Why do we need to pay someone to sit around, and plot or not, or just scheme for six years to make sure that in the next elections, it’ll be him that’ll get installed in Malacañang?
Now, what really confounds me is why the President seems amenable to the idea of giving the Vice President an official residence. What for? As a peace offering because he wouldn’t budge about VP Binay’s demand for the DILG post? Or does President Aquino know something that we don’t? Like… like the grant of an official residence would be like writing on water anyway because Mr. Binay won’t be Vice President for long?
Which now brings me to the electoral protest filed by MAR Roxas. But this is a pretty long entry already so I’ll write about that in the next one.
Overheard: “Sigurado ka bang Coconut Palace ang sinabi ni VP Binay na gusto niyang tirahan? Hindi coconut tree?”
hehehehe hahahahaha BWAHAHAHAHA
sama ko dyan sa napakalutong mong laughter, Connie… hehehe HAHAHA!!!
Come to think of it, this is the first VP who has made such a big fussabout his perceived importance
Hope he’ll be the last — the last to make such demands and the last Vice President, period.
I too have been wondering the use of having a Vice President in our government. Kung spare tire din lang, nandyan naman ang Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Almost all of my thoughts about Binay are on this article specially the last 2 paragraphs. I look forward to your post about Mar’s electoral protest.
sama din ako sa pagtawa ng malakas!
Darn, this is the most useless and expensive position ever crafted in the constitution solely for emergency backup.
Constitution needs to be changed. A functioning official like the Senate President can take the place.
Just be careful with your comment – somebody might accuse you of being a RACIST.
I would not be surprise if it will be from the environment cause oriented group. (Nah, not from the PSPCA or PETA).
COCONUT PALACE = RACIST?
Being said by one pinoy to another, it is within the same race – hardly a racist issue.
hehehehe hahahahaha BWAHAHAHAHA. Nakakahawa si Connie.
You didn’t get the context (or the joke), don’t you?
It’s not the coconut palace per se but the coconut tree…
I hope you’ve noticed the mentioning of PSPCA and PETA.
Or do I have to to explain you that I feel that Binay is being insinuated as a monkey that will require only a coconut tree instead of coconut palace and I just want to light up the day.
LOL…
And who says accusation of racism is not applicable if it is from the same race or nationality?
I don’t see any monkey implication. Monkeys live in trees but not in coconut trees because the fronds (leaves) aren’t sturdy enough to allow him to swing around. I construe the reference to a coconut tree to mean that’s what he deserves and what the taxpayers can afford.
i can agree with you Sass. It’s just unfortunate I’ve viewed it differently.
I’ve seen a lot of domesticated monkeys being tied in coconut trees.
So far dictionary still define racism as intolerance or hatred of another race. Binay and the other pinoy who spoke of coconut tree belong to the same race. Maybe, you mean bigot which is intolerant of another opinion but definitely not racist.
Definitely, I don’t mean bigot or bigotry. You can fault me for not explaining that racist in my usage in my previous comment did not pertain to race from scientific point of view but rather from a social one.
Trosp, I must add sorry. Sounds like the bwahahahaha changed the statement construction.
d0d0ng, the way I see it, it’s me who should be the one asking an apology from you. I always like to have a discussion with you. If our discussions have been verbal ones, spectators could have easily noticed that I’m always raising my voice to stress a point.
One thing i can guarantee you that I’m always focused on the issue at hand.
Exchanges of sarcastic remarks – I always consider it a part of healthy discussion.
ms. connie, you really don’t disappoint. i so love this entry. is it possible for me to share this in my fb account? you know my hubby grew up in makati and is a binay fan. he even asked me to vote for him by i didn’t do that of course hehehe….
Sure, I have the FB thingies at the end of the entry for convenience. Just one click.
Binay, pa-importante. He should just shut up and stay in the background. Although that Mar Roxas angle isn’t too bizarre either.
But I think you need a vp for the executive branch to function in the event that the president gets booted out or something.
Of course, we have a feudal system. Or parang mafia. If you’re not close to the top and powerful, sorry ka na lang.
Yes, just like the mafia. Amen.
Granted, everybody acts like mafiosi lording on something or demands like primadona.
Let Binay stay in Malacanang (he is understudy anyway) since PNoy did not want the bad vibes of the Palace. That puts the palace into good use, serves the VP’s ego, spared the President bad vibes and save unnecessary budget for extra location.
There is no reason, that the President and his VP will not be happy with that kind of arrangement.
What I know is that protocol dictates that the Pres and VP should not reside in a common structure, in this case, Malacanang –because we wouldn’t want that both of them would perish and leave a power vacuum should there be some act, natural or man-made to cause their demise.
Although I think, only one person will be happy with an arrangement like you suggested. The other person will always have to watch his back.
“the vice president is like a understudy in a play”! woohoo i love it! hahahaha. you nailed it, Connie! And you nailed it so perfectly. i will share this on my facebook page, if you don’t mind.
No, I don’t mind. Thank you, actually.
Binay finally figured out that he ran for the wrong position. His job is to wait and see if the President is incapacitated. He doesn’t need an official residence or a huge staff. I thought NoyNoy’s press secretary told Binay to ask congress to change the laws. Now, why is Noynoy caving in to this demand?
Noynoy said he leaves it to Congress to enact a law that provides the VP an official residence. He didn’t say he was against the idea.
Being from the province I didn’t know why a lot of people from Manila hate Binay, now I do. Kakainit ng ulo talaga! Kapal!!! That’s a really good point about the Vice President position.
This comes from Binay’s background of being an executive official before becoming VP. He has had his hands full for all of his political life until now that he is just somewhere in the country waiting for something untoward happens to Noynoy. So now it’s kind of boring and dull for him all of a sudden. And he doesn’t like it.
That’s why he set his sights on the DILG post to begin with. He couldn’t stomach to be simply a spare tire in the Executive branch.
Perhaps in the next amendment or revision of the 1987 Constitution, we should fully copy the American setup, have the Vice President become the President of Senate. In this way, the VP doesn’t become ‘vestigial organ’ of the government.
You know, there are a lot of implications in the statement “He has had his hands full for all of his political life.”
Considering that for many years, it was his wife who was Makati mayor, if Binay had his hands full all his political life, then, the wife was a puppet and Binay was actually running the show during her incumbency?
Just a thought.
At the way political families and dynasties operate, you couldn’t be far from the truth Ms Connie.
The setup of Rep. Lucy Torres-Gomez and her Chief-of-Staff Richard Gomez is the most current and perhaps, textbook-example.
Exactly what I was thinking about.
They don’t even hide it, do they?
Even though in the US government setup – that the vice president is mandated by their constitution to be the senate president, he can vote only to break a tie.
According to Wiki -
“Since the 1950s, vice presidents have presided over few Senate debates. Instead, they have usually presided only on ceremonial occasions, such as joint sessions, or at times when a tie vote on an important issue is anticipated.”
We could always improve on the American model and give our Vice President more powers as Senate President.
Besides, the idea of eliminating the VP post and make the Senate President second in the line of succession will make incumbent Presidents more terrified of Impeachments.
That’s true. But then we don’t have to have a President. Although I shudder at the thought that Gloria Arroyo is now qualified to become Prime Minister, there is a point here in favor of a PM as both head of state and chief executive. In case of death or incapacity, another from his party is elected by the Legislature (no need for expensive elections) and there is no danger of a power vacuum.
I’m trying to recall the history of some of the Philippine’s vice presidents -
Noli De Castro – he could possibly win a presidential election and why he suddenly settled for just the vice presidency?
GMA , Guingona, Erap – all of them were elected senators. Except for Guingona who was an appointed vice-president, the rest were elected ones. I could only surmise that both Erap and GMA run for vice-presidency in order to see the potential of being elected as president.
Salvador Laurel – has to settled to be the vice president of Cory. Napwersa ika nga. It’s the vice presidency or nothing. Take note that he was an elected and reelected senator. I could only surmise that he would be contented to be a senator throughout his political career (just like Joker Arroyo or Serge Osmena).
Fernando Lopez (one of the founders of ABS_CBN) – He was the longest serving vice president since he served the vice presidency three times. It seems to me that he was using his being the vice president of the country for his business (and ego?) than an ambition to run as president of the country.
Emmanuel Pelaez – I’m not rally sure if he would run for a presidential election since, after his vice president term, ran again as a congressman and won a congressional seat up to the martial law period.
Diosdado Macapagal – was a congressman and was elected vice president. He ran for presidential election and won against Carlos P. Garcia.
Carlos P. Garcia, Elpidio Quirino, and Sergio Osmena – They were vice-presidents and became presidents due to the untimely death of the presidents. All of them ran for reelection and did not win.
I could only opine that Binay will not mind to be a black (I’m a racist!) moving paperweight in whatever palace he would like to have as an office. He has attained the first stage of his “diabolical” plan.
Come to think of it, I’ve voted for him instead of Bayani, because I was so disgusted with Mar Roxas.
i voted for binay, but i didn’t like his actions afterwards–demanding the DILG position and now, this. hindi sya masyadong demanding noh?
1. family members succeeding him as mayor/multiple family members serving in public office of the same city = i agree with your point. blatant nepotism and engaging in political dynasties are counterproductive and can be really damamging especially when the family members are poor leaders. even if the family members are capable leaders the integrity of the offices and public trust are lost
2. number coding in makati enforced at all times = agree with mayor binay. 90% of the nation’s economic activity is based in makati and not many realize that billions are lost when there is heavy traffic in the ayala, buendia, makati ave, paseo de roxas and pasong tamo streets
3. president and vice president having official residences = agree with binay. A) it’s giving dignity to the office and title. a vp should not be treated as a spare tire and should be active in enacting executive functions so he can take over and resume operations should the president be unavailable. imagine if the president and vp arent in good terms, the vp would need to replace the entire cabinet and heads of all government agencies for him to be sure that every public servant will be acting on his mandate,
B) imagine if we elected a poor president or vp who lives in a barong barong. what foreign counterpart would respect that president enough to give him favorable concessions on trade agreements or foreign direct investements?
C) government officials with chauffeurs and wang wangs – how many billions are lost whenever noynoy cannot make it on time to his meeting with heads of other countries or CEOs of multinational businesses? billions are lost when meetings need to be moved to later hours or different days when the president or vp is late. wang wangs and chaffeurs are bad when the kids or family members of the president or vp or whomever government official are abusing them but i imagine that presidents are going to be making life changing decisions on the phone even when they are being transported so they shouldnt be wasting time trying to make singit other drivers on the road
“90% of the nation’s economic activity”
Whoa. Where do you get your stats for that?
“it’s giving dignity to the office and title”
Capability and honesty in service grants dignity to an office and title — not a house.”
“a vp should not be treated as a spare tire”
But he is. The Constitution says so.
“what foreign counterpart would respect that president enough”
That reminds me of a jab in De SAint Exupery’s The Little Prince about the turbaned scientist to whom no one listened because of his “image”. He thereafter wore a coat and tie, and voila! he was suddenly “acceptable.” Your statement makes me realize that De Saint Exupery must be psychic — well able to see into the future and across cultures too.
capability and honesty grants dignity of course but in a complex realistic world public perception does too. sometimes staying in a house in times street is no different from wearing a barong tagalog. all it does is make the president look good despite the inefficiencies and limitations it creates for the wearer. anyway, no point in continuing this discussion as it would only lead to more oversimplification.
“but in a complex realistic world public perception does too”
That is the most ridiculous showbizzy thing I have read today.
” no point in continuing this discussion as it would only lead to more oversimplification”
Yah, wish you wouldn’t oversimplify and trivialize the way showbiz people do.
hdakdjhak is a drive-by commenter(?) and this person is the one deciding that a discussion will just lead to an over simplication of the issue (can’t argue a point anymore?)…
Sass, one of the few times na hindi ko nakitang na-high blood ka…
Wala naman kwentang patulan eh.
The answer isn’t ” wang wangs ” , the answer is to fix the traffic congestion that is slowly strangling the life out of Metro Manila . Oh and can someone please explain to this foreigner why members of so called political dynasties continue to be elected and tolerated by the electorate when they know exactly what and who these people are ? And I’m tired of hearing ..” because it’s always been that way ” . Please enlighten me . Please . Darn Ms C , its late and I should be sleeping but your blog is fantastic !
That goes deep in our history. The ward system. The “lords” are benefactors and slave drivers at the same time. And it has a lot to do with the Catholic faith too — about the nobility in suffering, about forgiveness, about “respecting” those in “authority.”
Thank you Ms C . Very much based upon the US system at the grassroots level . And sadly the church doesn’t help either .
eeek! coconut palace?!?! anobah!! having him turn down the positions p-noy offered him was already a turn-off. parang siya pa ang mapili, diba? and now this. what a waste that mar roxas didn’t get to win the vp position. he and noynoy could have been a great team. as of now i’m happy with noynoy’s consistent show of sincerity and humility. too bad can’t say that for binay at all.
Very well said! Let’s share this sa facebook. Thanks Connie!
In my own personal opinion, I can liken Binay to a shrewd, unscrupulous person who is adept at manipulating other people or rules to his advantage. Sounds like a smooth operator gone obvious. I really didn’t like him and don’t trust him at all. I have a feeling Noynoy is aware and I hope he will watch him too.
“I have a feeling Noynoy is aware”
Exactly. The very reason why his every aggressive thrust (eg., publicly saying he wanted the GILG post) has been parried.