JUST two weeks in his new office, Vice President Jejomar Binay?s political irrelevance has already set in, if we are to glean anything from the fact that the news about his acceptance of the chairmanship of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) merited only an inside-page treatment from most national dailies. And Binay has only himself to blame for that.

From Day One, no, even before that, Binay lusted to become the ?sovereign? of local governments. With some help from media, which is not unlike a nagging wife, Binay?s impudence was repeatedly aired along the line of his becoming a ?square peg in a round hole? if the position was not given to him.

Except that he slipped up, saying ?round peg in a round hole? instead of ?square peg in a round hole.? Just roll the tapes. Yes, he said that. Which his spokesperson followed up with ?It?s the DILG or nothing,? thus, making his boss? ?wish? sound more like a demand. Again, roll the tapes.

But with a euphoric citizenry looking forward to good governance, the vice president?s impertinence was put under the microscope. Call that an exercise of people power. And the backlash softened Binay, and his spokespersons who now make statements with a double tongue. (One of them is obnoxiously loquacious.) Everyone in their camp, the mayor included, suddenly turned tame, like once-raging bulls forced into a corral.

Pare naman, vice president na ako ngayon was what Binay himself answered, so he said, when President Aquino offered him the chairmanship of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority. This is a man who is obviously self-conscious of titles and of power. Again, put that under the public microscope.

The original mistake was actually made during the campaign period. The campaign focused on Manny Villar?s fumbling with the C-5 extension allegations, his alleged stock exchange manipulations, and the Villar camp?s ill-conceived, squid-tactic insinuations about rival candidate Noynoy Aquino?s mental stability.

There simply was not enough time to focus the spotlight on Binay?s own philandering. By our own sin of omission, Binay escaped a closer look from the electorate. He was simply lucky. Asked whether he could also lie to the public as he had lied to his wife, his answer was very revealing: ?I did not lie to my wife. I just kept it (his philandering) a secret,? as if there is an ocean of difference between lying and keeping one?s infidelity a secret.

Makati is impressive. With its high-rise buildings, chic boutiques, corporate headquarters and all, the non-transparent governance of the city easily escapes public notice. But now that Binay is in the national eye, it will not be as it used to be for him. The standards we applied to Villar must be the standards we must now apply to the vice president.

Those standards are the standards we apply to Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. If we exempt anyone from those standards, then we cannot expect to find the truth; we can only end up with a farce. Flouting the law is no different from driving around with wang-wangs blaring.

We must make public officials accountable. This is a struggle that started with and reaches back to the Marcoses with whom Binay recently wined and dined. (I thought Binay was a ?human rights lawyer.? What does PDP-Laban comrade Nene Pimentel say about it?) Selective justice is a common trait of any Filipino organization. If we insist on prosecuting only Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, we can be sure there will be many more Glorias to come in the future.

It is precisely our proclivity for making exemptions that breeds a culture of impunity. It is this that in fact breeds little emperors even among barangay captains who think they are above the law. ?Small? violations of law lead to abuse of power. A tiny malignant cyst could spread and cause a debilitating ailment, even death.

Binay?s shameless plaints about the lack of regal trappings in the vice president?s office (kulang sa yabang), his desire to live in a palace while the man at the top only wishes to come home to the family abode, his convoy?s going through a red light?and who knows what?s more to come?these are all manifestations of a mind-set spawned by the misuse of government power.

Although welcomed by many, the Truth Commission remains problematic and will remain so if we insist on prosecuting GMA only. Partial truth is no truth at all.

The rumors, true or not, peddled by Binay?s detractors, about condominium units allegedly ?exchanged? for City Hall permits in Makati is not for him alone to answer. Binay, even if he is now the vice president, is not above the law. In the pursuit of the truth, this fish should not be spared, the more reason there is because of its size.

What is so difficult about this proposition?

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Comments to montalvan_antonio@g.cu.edu.ph