The Comeback: Binay 2022?
By: Pablo Joaquín
Tags: Politics, Philippines, Philippine Politics, 2022 Elections

Team Binay after their Miting de Avance in Makati in 2016. Photo courtesy of Rob Reyes.

The Former Vice President from Makati has been noticeably making rounds over social media recently. From exclusive interviews with the media to quotation cards peppering our news feeds, rest assured he wants to make sure that he wouldn’t go gently into that good night.

But his revived relevance is not exactly symptomatic of the usual rhetoric you’d expect from the traditional politician/villain he’s been made to appear over the past decade under the Aquino administration; he’s now, surprisingly, an independent voice critical of the Duterte Administration — a political posture that’s more consistent with those in the opposition.

So, because of his renewed social voice in the form of being an increasingly active political critic, one has to ask: Will VP Binay make a national political comeback in 2022? Specifically under the potential ticket of 1Sambayan?

Well, one could argue that because of 1Sambayan being a broader coalition than most would believe that such an occurrence could take place. With 1Sambayan’s conveners declaring that the coalition is open to non-traditional political allies joining their national ticket, VP Binay’s recent pronouncements against the Duterte Administration’s policies seems to fit the bill.

Some of the jabs he’s launched against Duterte’s administration ranges from criticizing their pandemic response — citing unnecessary infrastructure and red-tagging as their priority rather than public welfare — to even the supposed graver life-threatening dangers lawyers face under Duterte than that of Marcos’ Martial Law period.

One must also remember that the Binay Patriarch’s daughter, Sen. Nancy Binay, is now barred to run again due to term limitations regardless if VP Binay’s stint may overlap with her’s — a circumstance that could prompt the former vice president to run in order to continue their presence in the national policy conversation.

Talks of his potential comeback in 2022 comes no less from VP Binay himself, hinting, however vaguely, in an interview when asked about his plans that if his physical and mental well-being would permit him then he would most certainly be involved; even mentioning that his political party, the United Nationalist Alliance, remains a nationally accredited party.

However, the promise of Binay joining the opposition’s ranks isn’t as certain as one would believe. The same corruption scandals that haunted him during his political prime are still inescapable to the Binay brand — most especially when one of 1Sambayan’s conveners, Former Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales, is the same one that launched these investigations in the first place. Such phantoms of his political past could prove a steep enough hurdle for his comeback to actualize.

While indeed skepticism over his political heft could bear merit also due to his loss in 2019 as a Makati congressional bet, his remaining relevance in the national conversation however would beg to differ. VP Binay’s ability to still influence the mainstream political narrative cannot be underestimated, and thus qualifies him to be in contention for some of the countries national posts.

While of course nothing is set in stone for Philippine politics, the fact remains: his fascinating transition into becoming an unlikely independent and critical social voice leaves one ponder if, indeed, 2022 would need the veteran Binay in the back in the political conversation.