Chances are

School daughter duties prevented me from watching Jejomar Binay's counter-SONA last Monday, in the same manner that I also failed to watch Noynoy Aquino's SONA on July 27. From what transpired on both occasions, I can easily say that I did not miss anything. Perhaps my only regret for both was that I would have wanted to watch the body language of the country's top two officials.

I have already written about Noynoy's SONA, about how I correctly figured how it was going to turn out. I must admit, though, to a few novel surprises and got stunned by the omissions. As to Binay's TSONA (True State of the Nation Address kuno), there was nothing in it that people did not know already. The failures of Noynoy and his administration are so palpable and in your face they do not need any hardsell marketing strategy, much less by a necessarily biased salesman like Binay.

Binay, while essentially an outsider in the administration, is nevertheless an insider in government. While there is no argument about the bad things he said about government, it would have enlightened the public if he gave insider information as to why things are the way they are in the administration. People need not be told how miserable they are. But they sure would be interested to know why. Unfortunately, Binay came up short on the details.

Or maybe Binay could have talked about how he could do better if given the chance. There are many ways of saying so without appearing to engage in too much politicking or early campaigning. For Binay to just continue lambasting the administration without showing the country the way out will ultimately prove to be a big letdown.

The utter failure of this administration is already apparent and manifest in many of the things one sees and experiences in the country. It is reflected in the many surveys and reports, some even by agencies of the government itself, about how the poor continue to be poor and hungry and how the numbers of the jobless, the sick and the criminal keep rising. The only ones who continue to see roses are Edwin Lacierda, Sonny Coloma, Abigail Valte, and the coopted media.

Perhaps Binay should just shut up and just bury his nose campaigning. All the surveys show he has kept his mass base of at least 30 percent despite the serious allegations of corruption against him. From experience, there will be more negative things headed his way, so he does not need to court more. What he does need is to protect that 30 percent, which is many times more than what Mar Roxas, the other declared candidate, has. This, and hoping to gain more to add to that.

But Binay cannot hope to gain more to add to that if he proceeds on his belligerent tack. It is difficult to win friends and supporters if you are angry and in a bad mood. What he needs to do is do what he did best in 2010, which was to operate silently, especially in the provinces, away from the glare of publicity. Nothing that has happened since suggests that it will not work again.

Binay must remember that allegations of corruption are always believable even if yet unproven. That is the most difficult obstacle to his campaign. He needs to find an effective means to go around that. And the best way to do that is to prove he can do things better. He needs to make known his platform early and harp on that day and night, for as long as it takes.

If he gets carried away and answers each brick with a bat, he will use up all his time swinging, and by the time he realizes what happened, he will have dug a hole in the ground so deep he cannot extricate himself. He needs to go on the offensive for his own sake. If he doesn't, the next time he looks, Mar Roxas will be breathing already on his neck, if he hasn't overtaken him yet.

Binay may have an unwavering base. But 30 percent cannot win him the election, although that is a hefty advantage. He needs to add more. Roxas may have almost nothing at the moment, but when you are in the ruling party with all its tremendous assets at your disposal, and that is not even counting what you personally have under your belt, what the surveys show now can still change in the time left between now and election day. Noynoy has already hinted broadly about that.

Roxas by himself is not a strong presidential candidate, even if he has topped the race in his prior run for the Senate. Each elective position is different from the rest. Roxas may be unbeatable for the Senate but just a wimp for president. What he has going for him is the clout of being with the party in power, and the advantage of fighting someone with a vulnerable spot. Binay, on the other hand, can win if he can present himself the better alternative, warts and all.

“He needs to go on the offensive for his own sake. If he doesn't, the next time he looks, Mar Roxas will be breathing already on his neck, if he hasn't overtaken him yet.”