To run for mayor in Taguig is an option, says Abby Binay

Makati City Mayor Abby Binay. FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — Makati Mayor Abby Binay on Wednesday is not ruling out option to run for the local chief executive post in Taguig City in the next term.

“I have yet to cross that bridge … That is an option,” Binay said in an ambush interview after the distribution of school supplies in Pembo Elementary School and Benigno Ninoy Aquino High School which were formerly under Makati City’s jurisdiction.

Binay also said she has so many factors to consider in making that decision.

“Hindi pa ako nakakapagdesisyon dahil magiging mahirap at mabigat na task ang tumakbo sa Taguig sapagkat, una hindi po ako pamilyar sa lugar,” Binay said.

(I have yet to decide because this will be a hard and heavy task — running for Taguig — because first of all I am not familiar with the place.)

“Although marami po tayong magandang maibigay at magagawa sa lungsod na iyon pero kailangan po magmuni-muni nang mabuti, kailangan kausapin ko ang asawa’t anak ko because it will be a difficult decision to make, running for Taguig,” she added.

(Although we could offer and do good things in that city, but I need to ponder on this decision and talk to my husband and kids because it will be a difficult decision to make, running for Taguig.)

This development came after the Supreme Court declared that Taguig has the rightful jurisdiction over Fort Bonifacio Military Reservation — where Bonifacio Global City and the Embo barangays are located — and not Makati.

The high court stated that that 10 barangays in Makati’s second district — namely, Pembo, Comembo, Cembo, South Cembo, West Rembo, East Rembo, Pitogo, Rizal, Post Proper Northside and Post Proper Southside, including Bonifacio Global City —  “based on historical, documentary and testimonial evidence, indeed fall within the territorial jurisdiction of Taguig.”

According to Binay, this decision, which became final in September 2022, meant that more than 300,000 former residents of Makati would no longer get access to the city’s “best social protection benefits” that Taguig “is unlikely to match.”

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JPV