MANILA, Philippines – While President Benigno Aquino III wrote Indonesia’s leader to save a Filipino from death row, Vice President Jejomar Binay spoke in interviews, issued statements, and met his Indonesian counterpart to appeal for Mary Jane Veloso – with a photo op.  

This is Binay playing his cards well.

Binay, the leading candidate to succeed Aquino, has not only advised the President on migrant workers’ affairs. He has also projected himself as a hero for migrant Filipinos – in a country where around 2.56 million families have at least a member working abroad. 

Binay, in particular, “has been very successful” in showing “inclusiveness perhaps in the way he approaches people,” especially overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), political science professor Francisco Magno said.

“Even without an invitation, he really reaches out. He travels to overseas Filipino communities,” said Magno, director of the De La Salle University’s Jesse Robredo Institute of Governance, in a forum on Tuesday, May 12.

Magno was among the panelists during the second part of “#PHvote: The Leader I Want,” a forum organized by Rappler and the Building an Inclusive Democracy (BID) consortium.

The BID consortium includes the College of Liberal Arts of the De La Salle University (DLSU), the Ateneo School of Government, the Asian Institute of Management RSN Policy Center for Competitiveness, and the University of the Philippines National College of Public Administration and Governance.

The forum is part of Rappler’s coverage of the presidential elections in May 2016. (READ/WATCH: The Leader I Want: Charisma ‘not enough’) 

In this forum, Ateneo School of Government Dean Antonio La Viña agreed that Binay “is the most prepared” to tackle issues like the Filipino diaspora, as well as climate change and peace.

“He knows his issues very well,” he said. 

La Viña, however, said he “would have problems with Binay as a leader to build institutions” because he “doesn’t come from that mold.” 

“And I’ll ask you: Will you stand up after Binay speaks, and say, ‘Let’s march and fix the Philippines’? I don’t think he would be inspiring young people and all of us, because of the clouds of his being corrupt, et cetera, which I don’t know, and I have no basis for making a judgment about that,” he said. 

This comes as Binay faces several investigations for alleged corruption. (READ: AMLC: Binay et al moved large sums of US dollars)

Is Roxas ‘able to inspire people’?

Like Magno and La Viña, University of the Philippines professor Leonor Briones said Binay “has a large reserve of support, which he has been building up from the time he ran for vice president.”

Briones cited Binay’s trips to court votes in the Visayas and Mindanao, and his involvement in civic organizations. 

Briones, however, had another candidate in mind for 2016.

A former national treasurer, she said she would go for Panfilo Lacson, the Philippines’ former rehabilitation chief for areas hit by Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) in November 2013.

“Look at what he did for Yolanda (survivors) – no budget, no powers at all. He was not even given an office,” she said, referring to Lacson’s position as a virtual “CEO without a budget.” (READ: Lacson seeks powers to probe Yolanda rehab)

La Viña said Senator Grace Poe and Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte also have potential to become president.

Duterte, however, “needs to expand his issues beyond federalism and peace and Mindanao,” La Viña said. He also questioned Duterte’s human rights record. (READ: Int’l watchdog wants Duterte probed)

On Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II, Magno said Roxas has integrity but “has to work more on inclusiveness.” (READ: How do you solve a problem like Mar Roxas?)

La Viña said his “main concern” with Roxas – the presumptive presidential candidate of Aquino’s Liberal Party – is if he is “able to inspire people.” He said, “That is a big issue for me.” – Rappler.com