GAYLICAN, JEMIMAH KEZIA M.

AGRS 115 WX

POLINAR, CASSANDRA JOY M.

GUILTY OR NOT?
Reaction Paper on Binay Forum

Last Tuesday, September 16, 2015, the Vice President of the Republic of the Philippines,
Hon. Jejomar Binay, went to UPLB to have an opportunity to talk on a forum about transparency
and good governance. The students and alumni looked forward to the event with the intention of
throwing questions regarding the issues attached with Binay. Not surprisingly, the crowd was
able to lift various topics but his answers, like the okay yan pero hindi ko alam yan line, did
not seem to satisfy the audience.

The event was awful from the lining up before the crowd entrance, to the main speech of
the Vice President, down to the last minute of the open forum. Due to the eagerness of the
students to enter to the hall, the event organizers were not able to control the crowd efficiently.
Somehow, we were also slightly dismayed with the reactions of the students during his entry in
the D. L. Umali Hall. Everyone was shouting boo at him. As a Vice President, he still deserved
to be respected in words and in actions. However, students cannot be blamed for their reactions
because of several anomalies coupled with him and his family.

The speech was very disappointing since it only contained a mere SONA-like speech
about Makati. His talk majorly comprises of platforms and agendas as part of his presidential
candidacy. It is opposite to what students had expected. The audience did not anticipate that
instead of discussing the issues regarding the General Education curriculum, he tackled about his
ambitious presidency plans for the upcoming election. It is ambitious because it was obvious that
he honey-coated every words he was saying to students.

Everyone felt the desperation of Binay to clean his name to the UPLB community
because of his seemingly inaccurate reports. For instance, he said that Makati City has zero
percentage of poverty and illegal settlers; however, it is opposite to what people had observed in
the City. The answers to the questions were also a huge insult to the intelligence of the audience
since for the students, they are out of logic and lack of factual reasons. At one point, he was
asked about his opinion on a particular house bill but he blurted that he do not know anything.
How did it happened? As far as the students knowledge about him, his a lawyer and a policy
maker.

The question and answer portion was dramatically highlighted by the media and the
netizens who did not actually watched the forum. However based on our observation, the Q and
A actually helped him for his campaign. Through the portion, Binay had the chance to explain
himself and express his antagonism to the current administration. He also had the chance to
exempt himself with the failures of the Aquino Presidency. He seems so clever that he knows
how to circulate the situation given to him and ending up not answering them.

On the other hand, the problem with the questions of the students is that it is very broad
and general that it did not directly attacked the anomalies of Binay. As a result, all the blames
were arrowed to other policy makers and to the President. Of course, it is true that the direction
of the government lies on the hands of the President, however as a politician he must also accept
responsibility and accountability with the failures. He must do something for the administration
since he is a part of it instead of criticising the loopholes.

We do not imposed that other presidential candidates were not corrupt and were not
guilty of any issues but the students only aimed to clarify things. For us, the early declaration of
Binay as a candidate for presidential election threatened his credibility. Consequently, this
helped the Filipino citizens to clean the fog out of their eyes and see what is actually happening
under the table of the government.

He only proved to us and other students, his incompetency and his involvement with
corruption issues. For every important position, or title, pageant, job application, UP, admissions,
or for funding grants, we interrogate. And for every interrogation, we expect an excellent and
reasonable answers. As for the VPs answer, he only proved his non-eligibility. The kay Binay
gaganda ang buhay tag line is not realistic as it was six years ago.