Former VP Binay leads family in running again for public office

Will there be four members of the Binay family holding elective office after the May 2019 elections?

Former Vice President Jejomar Binay has decided to return to public office and run for representative of Makati’s first district.

The decision surprised his eldest daughter, Sen. Nancy Binay, who is up for reelection.

Also running for another term next year is Makati Mayor Abby Binay.

Abby’s husband, Makati Rep. Luis Campos Jr. of the second district, is eligible to run for reelection next year as well.

Binay’s spokesperson, Joey Salgado, confirmed that the former Vice President would run for representative of the first district “[on] the ticket of Mayor Abby.”

Both are members of the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA), of which Nancy is the president.

Jejomar was a longtime Makati mayor before he successfully ran for Vice President in 2010. He aimed for the presidency in the 2016 elections, but lost.

Dynasty

When term limits prevented him from running for Makati mayor in the previous years, his wife, Elenita, and his son, Jejomar Jr., ran and won.

Asked about the possibility that the Binay family would be accused of perpetuating a dynasty, Nancy said it was still up to the people to choose their leaders.

“At the end of the day, the people will choose who they will vote for. It’s still the will of the people,” she said.

She also told reporters that she did not know that her father would make public his political plans on Monday.

“We haven’t talked about it. All I knew was that he would go to Italy to pray,” she said.

The family will be supportive of their patriarch whatever he does, Nancy said. Her family is used to intrigue anyway, she said.

She also said the people remained receptive to the Binays because of her father’s service to the people.

“I don’t think that could be erased. It will always be there,” the senator said.

First legislative post

If the elder Binay wins, it would be his first legislative role.

Binay was the early front-runner in the 2016 presidential race, but his campaign collapsed under the weight of a barrage of allegations of massive corruption, leaving him with just 12.7 percent of the vote.

Makati’s first district is currently held by action movie star and Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) member Monsour del Rosario, who is said to be considering a Senate run.

The name of former Makati Vice Mayor Romulo “Kid” Peña Jr. has also been floated as a possible candidate for the first district.

Bel-Air, Forbes, Dasma

The district encompasses the sprawling western area of the city and includes some of the richest villages in the nation, such as Bel-Air, Forbes Park and Dasmariñas.

“The talk is that Peña will be running in the first district,” Salgado told the Inquirer.

If Binay and Peña faced off, it would be a clash between two political rivals who were once allies, until Peña jumped from UNA to the Liberal Party in 2010.