Jejomar Binay

Jejomar Cabauatan Binay popularly known as Jojo, is a lawyer and politican. He was the 13th vice president of the Philippines.

Before being elected vice president in 2010, Binay served as Makati mayor from 1988 to 1998 and from 2001 to 2010, becoming the patriarch of the dynasty controlling the city. His daughter Abigail is current Makati mayor, while another daughter, Nancy, is a senator serving until 2025. During his term break as Makati mayor, he chaired the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority from 1998 to 2001, as an appointee of President Joseph Estrada.

During his vice presidency, he became the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council chair.

“Mahigit 30 years ang karanasan ko sa public service. Ang karanasan ko sa paglilingkod ang inihahaharap ko sa ating mga kababayan. May mga nagawa tayo para sa ating mga kababayan, at marami pa tayong dapat gawin.”

Binay faces allegations of billions of pesos’ worth of corruption from his time as Makati mayor.

JENOMAR “JOJO” BINAY PROFILE

Full Name: Jejomar Cabauatan Binay
Birthdate: Nov. 11, 1942 (Age 82)
Birthplace: Paco, Manila
Residence: Makati City, Metro Manila
Religion: Roman Catholic
Parents:

• Diego Medrano Binay, father (deceased), librarian
• Lourdes Gatan Cabauatan, mother (deceased), public school teacher

Spouse: Elenita Sombillo Binay, physician and former Makati City Mayor
Children:

• Ma. Lourdes Nancy B. Angeles, Senator
• Mar-Len Abigail B. Campos, Makati City mayor
• Marita Angeline B. Alcantara, former director of the Office of the Vice President
• Joanna Marie Bianca S. Binay
• Jejomar Erwin S. Binay Jr., former Makati City mayor

Profession or Occupation: Lawyer

EDUCATION

Graduate courses

• Program for Senior Executives in National and International Security, Harvard Kennedy School-Executive Education (2011);
• Diploma in Environmental and Natural Resources Management, University of the Philippines Open University (2004);
• Master in Management, Philippine Christian University (1998);
• Master in National Security Administration, National Defense College of the Philippines (1990);
• Master of Laws, University of Santo Tomas (1980);
• Masters in Public Administration, Major in Local Government Management, University of the Philippines

Other graduate courses

• Joint Services and Command Staff Course, Joint Services and Command Staff College, AFP (1997);
• Top Management Program, Asian Institute of Management (Bali, Indonesia) (1996);
• Diploma in Land Use Program, University of the Philippines, School of Urban and Regional Planning (1993);
• Senior Executive Fellows Program, Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government (1992);
• Non-Resident Command and General Staff Course, Command and General Staff College, AFP (1992);
• Strategic Business Economic Program, Center for Research and Communication

College

• BA Political Science, University of the Philippines (1962)

High School

• University of the Philippines Preparatory High School

Elementary

• Philippine Normal College

CAREER

Government posts

As Vice President from 2010-2016, Binay also served as:

• Vice Chairman, Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (2010-2015);
• Presidential Adviser on OFW Concerns (2010-2015);
• Chairman Emeritus, Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking;
• Chairman, Task Force on Anti-Illegal Recruitment;
• Chairman, Urban Triangle Development Commission

Before being elected as VP, Binay also served as Mayor of Makati from 1986-1998 and 2001 to 2010.

Binay also held the following posts:

• Chairman, Metro Manila Development Authority (July 1998-January 20, 2001)
• Board member, Laguna Lake Development Authority (July 1, 1998-January 2001)
• Board Member, Light Railway Transit Authority (July 1, 1998-January 2001)
• Co-Chairman, Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission (1998-2001)
• Board Member, Technological Livelihood & Research Center (July 1, 1998-January 2001)
• Chairman, Metro Manila Authority (July 1990-October 1992)
• Director, Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (July 1990-August 1991)
• Governor (concurrent capacity), Metropolitan Manila Commission (March 1987-November 1987)
• Director, Laguna Lake Development Authority (June 1987-November 1987)
• Director, Light Railway Transit Authority (June 1987-November 1987)
• Director, Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (May 1987-November 1987)
• Director, Technological Livelihood and Research Center, June 1987-November 1987)

Other posts held:

• Director, Metro Manila Transit Corporation (April 1987-November 1987)
• Chairman, Metro Manila Peace and Order Council (1990-1993)
• Colonel (0-125795) (Reservist), AFP-Philippine Navy (Marines (Inactive)
• Commanding Officer, 202nd Philippine Marine Reserve Battalion (November 1991-present)
• Board Member, Bataan Shipyard & Engineering Corp. (July 1998-February 2001)
• Board Member, Ninoy Aquino International Airport Authority (July 1998-January 20, 2001)
• Co-Chairman, Task Force on Traffic Improvement and Management for Metro Manila and Suburbs

Professional experience

• Claims examiner, Insular Life Insurance Company;
• Legal counsel, Office of Manila Councilor Carlos Loyzaga;
• Assistant attorney, Deogracias T. Reyes and Associates;
• Partner, Binay, Cueva and Associates;
• Partner (on leave), Balane, Tamase, Alampay Law Office;
• Columnist, “Noted and Sustained,” TODAY newspaper;
• Professor, St. Catherine’s School of Nursing; Taxation and Land Reform;
• Professor, Philippine College of Commerce; Law, Political Science and Public Administration, 1970-1972
• Law Professor, Philippine Women’s University
• Law Professor, St. Scholastica’s College
• Law Professor, National Defense College of the Philippines

POLITICAL HIGHLIGHTS

Jejomar Binay is the only Philippine national official so far who has made a big leap in the political arena — from being Mayor of Makati City to being Vice President of the country.

Under the Aquino administration, Jojo Binay, a long-serving national president of the Boy Scouts of the Philippines, had served as Presidential Adviser on OFW Concerns and “housing czar” as Chairman of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council.

As Mayor of Makati, Binay instituted the Makati Health Plus (MHP or Yellow Card) program for free outpatient consultations and subsidized in-patient care at the city’s Ospital ng Makati (Osmak).

In 2002, the Dubai International Award for Best Practices cited the Yellow Card program as a “best practice” for its “outstanding contribution towards improving the living environment.”

The following year, the city government launched the Makati Heart Card Program that provides 50% discount on medicines as well as free consultation, nutritional assessment, and other laboratory services.

The city government also provided special benefits to senior citizens such as free admission to cinemas for senior citizens and free cakes for birthdays and golden wedding anniversaries.

Meanwhile, some of the awards and recognitions received by the Makati government during Binay’s term included:

• SGS Philippines ISO 9001: 2008 Certification given to three departments: Finance (Real Property Tax, Business and Miscellaneous Taxes Division), Assessment; Makati Health (Environmental Sanitation Division) and Civil Registration Office (2009);
• Catholic Mass Media Awards: Jaime Cardinal Sin Serviam Award given to the city’s “Radyo Makati” for Outstanding Community Service in the Promotion of Christian Values (2004 and 2006);
• Galing Pook Award: given to the city government for its Makati Waste Diversion and Reduction Program (2009);
• Cleanest and Greenest City in the NCR (1995, 1996 and 2000);
• Best Local Disaster Coordinating Council, National Capital Region (2006-2011);
• Department of Interior and Local Government: Best Crime-Responder in the NCR (2004);
• Best Traffic Unit in the NCR (1996);
• Presidential Award for the Most Child-Child-Friendly City in NCR (2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009)

Binay was the former national president of the PDP-Laban political party. In 2013, PDP-Laban allied with the Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino political party of former President Joseph Estrada to form the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA). However, in 2014, UNA members launched UNA as a political party to support Binay’s bid for the presidency in the 2016 elections.

ELECTION HISTORY

• 2010: Vice President, PDP-LABAN Party  (Won with 14,645,574 votes)
• 2007: Mayor, City of Makati, UNO/PDP LABAN  (198,814 votes)
• 2004: Mayor, City of Makati, PDP LABAN (186,655 votes)
• 2001: Mayor, City of Makati, PDP-LABAN (137,030 votes)
• 1995: Mayor, City of Makati, PDP-LABAN (124,168 votes)
• 1992: Mayor, Municipality of Makati, PDP (117,039 votes)

Jojo Binay is a veteran politician, who served as the 13th vice president of the Philippines from 2010 to 2016. Before entering politics, he was a prominent human rights lawyer and political detainee during the Martial Law era, providing free legal services to others who were also unjustly detained.

In 1986, Binay was appointed by President Corazon Aquino as the officer-in-charge of Makati. He eventually became the longest-serving mayor of the city from 1988 to 1998 and 2001 to 2010. He is largely credited for the city’s status as the financial and business hub of the country.

Although he was the early front-runner for the presidency in 2016, he placed fourth in the race, mainly due to the numerous graft and corruption charges leveled against him at that time, some of which remain pending. Since then, Binay has been a vocal critic of the Rodrigo Duterte administration, especially on the pandemic response and policies that he believes signal the “creeping erosion of civil liberties.”

Binay’s candidacy for the Senate in 2022 is his second attempt at a comeback, having previously lost in the 2019 congressional race for the 1st District of Makati. His platform for the Senate is mainly centered on the pandemic response, providing assistance to displaced workers, supporting affected micro, small and medium enterprises, and alleviating poverty and hunger. He also supports subsidizing social and health services in line with his pioneering projects in the City of Makati.

Binay is running under the United Nationalist Alliance, which he founded in 2016 for his unsuccessful presidential bid. He is a guest candidate in the senatorial slates of Senators Panfilo Lacson and Manny Pacquiao and Vice President Leni Robredo.

If elected to the Senate, Binay will join daughter Nancy Binay in the upper chamber. His other daughter, Mar-len Abigail “Abby” Binay-Campos, is running for her third consecutive term as mayor of Makati City while his son-in-law Luis Campos is gunning to represent the 2nd District of Makati City once again.

PLATFORM AND POLICY

POST-PANDEMIC RECOVERY

1. Pursue legislation to provide assistance for workers, both in the public and private sectors, for small entrepreneurs and sectors affected by the pandemic
2. Immediately propose a Family Care Program for government and private-sector workers that will provide food and cash aid, paid family leaves, interest-free loans and deferment or condonation of housing loans for working parents who are unable to work while caring for their children
3. Provide workers enough cash aid to live during the pandemic
4. Push laws that would restore the dignity of the poor and redistribute economic opportunity
5. Provide additional benefits to family members caring for their elderly parents.

ECONOMIC RECOVERY

1. Provide support to MSMEs affected by the pandemic, including subsidizing COVID-19 testing of MSME workers
2. Provide tax breaks and cash grants to small businesses
3. Place priority on the creation of stable jobs

HEALTHCARE SYSTEM REFORM

1. Push for free check-ups, hospitalization and medicine for those in need

MAJOR ACCOMPLISHMENTS:

Public Office

In 1986, Binay was appointed by President Aquino as the officer-in-charge of Makati. He eventually became the longest-serving mayor of the city from 1988 to 1998 and 2001 to 2010. He is largely credited for earning Makati its cityhood status as its mayor in 1995. During his 20-year tenure as Mayor, he was able to provide socialized healthcare that was groundbreaking at the time, such as the Makati Health Plus or Yellow Card and Makati Heart Card Program, and the Blu Card for senior citizens services.

It was also under his leadership in 2002 that Makati College became the University of Makati, expanding its undergraduate and graduate programs. After completing his first three consecutive terms as mayor, he was replaced by his wife, Elenita Binay.

He served as chairman of the Metro Manila Development Authority from 1998 to 2001, until he was elected to another three consecutive terms as Makati mayor from 2001 to 2007.

Binay won as vice president in 2010, serving under President Benigno Aquino III. He concurrently served as “housing czar” or vice-chairman of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council and as presidential adviser on OFW Concerns, as chairman emeritus of the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking, and as chairman of the Task Force on Anti-Illegal Recruitment and Urban Triangle Development Commission.

When Binay launched a bid for the presidency in 2016, he faced several investigations in connection with alleged overpriced construction projects approved during his tenure as Makati City mayor and implemented during the administration of his son, then-Makati Mayor Jejomar Erwin “Junjun” Binay, Jr.

The probes were triggered by a July 2014 plunder and graft complaint filed with the Office of Ombudsman against the Binays and other officials over the alleged overpricing of the P2.28 billion Makati City Hall Building II, a parking building along F. Zobel Street in 2007. The 11-story parking building was supposedly built for P1.56 billion, the reasonable cost for which was just P798,200,000.00 based on the present construction standards for high-end commercial buildings of the National Statistics Office.

Senator Antonio Trillanes initiated a Senate blue ribbon committee probe over the alleged anomalous project and other reports of misuse of local funds, which was characterized as politicking in connection with the coming national election by the vice president’s daughter Senator Nancy Binay. The accused father and son denied all charges, claiming that the cost of the building was justified.

Senator Trillanes and the Binays traded barbs, both during and after the Senate hearings. Trillanes faced two cases for libel filed by the Binays and Antonio Liu, who was alleged by Trillanes to be a “dummy” for Vice President Binay with regard to the ownership of the estate tagged as Hacienda Binay.

On May 28, 2015, the Senate blue ribbon committee released a partial report recommending that the Ombudsman file plunder cases against the Binays and their co-conspirators. The partial report stated that there was a “grand conspiracy” to overprice the Makati City Hall 2 building by at least P1.12 billion to P1.4 billion.

By the time the Senate wrapped up its investigation in January 2016, other allegedly overpriced structures in Makati had been found.

In October 2015, the Office of the Ombudsman dismissed then-Makati Mayor Junjun Binay from service and perpetually barred him from government office and shortly after, indicted him, with 22 other persons, for graft and other criminal charges.

On Feb. 19, 2016, the Ombudsman formally brought criminal charges against the dismissed younger Binay over the alleged irregularities in the construction of the parking building. In July 2016, Binay Sr. was charged with graft, falsification of public documents and violation of the government procurement law at the Sandiganbayan, the first criminal charges filed against Binay after his term ended on June 30.

In August 2017, graft and falsification of public documents were charged against the Binay father and son, in their capacities as mayor and councilor at the time of the allegations, and other former Makati officials and private individuals, over the alleged rigging of the procurement processes for the construction of the P1.3 billion Makati Science High School building in 2007.

Father and son also faced plunder and graft cases in 2015 for the alleged fraudulent deal between the University of Makati and the Systems Technology Institute.

Both Binays continue to deny the charges against them, claiming that they were politically motivated.

Private Sector

Binay worked as a lawyer before he entered public service. He was a founding member and former vice-chair of the Movement of Attorneys for Brotherhood Integrity and Nationalism, Inc., the group of lawyers who offered their services free of charge to those who were accused during the Martial Law years and has recently supported the opposition to the Duterte administration’s war against illegal drugs.

Binay was the national president of Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Laban, before forming the United Nationalist Alliance in 2014 in preparation for his 2016 presidential bid.

He served as President of Boy Scouts of the Philippines in 1994 to 1996, 1998 to 2000 and 2001 to 2016, even amid the allegations involving the sale of a BSP property.