Ex-VP Binay vies for Senate seat, files candidacy for 2022 polls

Former Vice President Jejomar Binay. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO/LYN RILLON

MANILA, Philippines — Former Vice President Jejomar “Jojo” Binay on Thursday filed his certificate of candidacy (COC) for senator at the Harbor Garden Tent of Sofitel hotel in Pasay City.

Binay will run under the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA), of which he is also president.

He was the 13th vice president of the country, serving alongside President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III.

Binay was also a member of Aquino’s cabinet — as the chief of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council and as the Presidential Adviser on OFW Affairs — before relinquishing his seat a year before the end of the Aquino administration’s term.

He then ran for president the following year, alongside former Sen. Gregorio Honasan as his running mate. Both however lost to President Rodrigo Duterte and Liberal Party’s Leni Robredo for vice president in the 2016 national elections.

Binay was earlier announced as part of the Senate slate under the tandem of Senator Panfilo Lacson, who announced his candidacy for president, and Senate President Vicente Sotto III who will be his running mate.

EDV