 oesn’t
anyone find it a bit strange that the former mayor of Makati does not
seem to have the backing of that city’s business community?
Makati after all is the country’s premiere business district. Most major
Philippine corporations are headquartered there. And for someone who has
won election after election, whose wife also served as mayor, and whose
son is the current mayor, the city’s business community seems totally
disengaged from Vice President Jejomar Binay’s bid for the presidency as
well as the myriad accusations of corruption currently being hurled
against him.
One
would think that the city’s favorite son, who ran it for decades as
mayor would have the overwhelming support of the business titans who
call Makati home. What we have instead is a deafening silence from a
group that should be Binay’s loudest supporters.
What is going on? With
all the allegations of corruption being hurled at Binay, one would
expect that Makati’s business leaders would be the first to come to the
defense of their former mayor. The Binays after all have been running
Makati city since Cory Aquino appointed Jejomar in the late 1980s.
On the surface, it
would appear that Makati’s business community has absolutely no debt or
gratitude (utang na loob) towards Binay who ran it for decades.
Then again, maybe
there’s a reason for the silence. Maybe the business community does not
support Binay. Maybe there is some truth to the allegations of
corruption being hurled at the former mayor. Maybe the Makati
businessmen know things about the Binays that the rest of us don’t.
Maybe they’ve decided that the best thing for them to do is to keep
their mouths shut at this time.
It is pure speculation on
our part but we honestly wonder why the Makati business community has
failed or refused to rally behind its former mayor. Their inaction and
silence speaks louder than any of the voices that accuse the vice
president of corruption and dishonesty. Could it be that all the bad things they
are saying about Jejomar Binay and family are true after all?
Published 7/22/2015
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