Vice President Jejomar Binay INQUIRER FILE PHOTO/RAFFY LERMA
Vice President Jejomar Binay Wednesday celebrated his 73rd birthday by sharing breakfast with a poor community in Pasay City where he underscored the core of his platform for the 2016 presidential elections.
“My birthday wish is to uplift the lot of every Filipino. That is the main thrust of my leadership. Then and now, that is still the main thrust,” Binay told reporters Wednesday.
“The poverty that I went through, that’s always on my mind, now that I aspire to become President. Until now, I say [what we have done] in Makati, that no person should die because of poverty, because [he or she] can’t afford to buy food, can’t go to the hospital,” said Binay.
Binay, who is accused of amassing ill-gotten wealth during his term as mayor of Makati City allegedly from kickbacks from overpriced city projects, recalled his family’s modest beginnings, saying poverty helped shape the man that he is now.
The former Makati chief executive, whose family has controlled the city for four decades, recalled how he lost his mother Lourdes to breast cancer at a young age, as the family did not have the means to get her treated.
“When she died, the death benefits we used to build a house. A few months after, our house burned down. That’s when we moved to Makati,” said Binay.
“That’s why until now, it’s hard for me to see people who had lost their homes to a fire, especially those who are still cleaning up their burned down house. I still remember how my father (Diego) and I had to collect coins left in our house after the fire,” said Binay, who was later raised by his uncle Ponciano when he moved to Makati.
Binay began his day with a Mass at the Sta. Clara de Montefalco Parish in Pasay City, where he was baptized on Dec. 19, 1943. Parish priest Fr. Nick Blanquisco said he confirmed this through church records.
Roughly 300 well-wishers attending the Mass with Binay, cheering for the presidential candidate and his company, including daughter, Sen. Nancy Binay, his running mate at the United Nationalist Alliance Gregorio “Gringo” Honasan and senatorial bet Rey Langit. The parish even sang the Happy Birthday song for Binay twice, at the start and the end of the Mass.
In his homily, Blanquisco reminded the congregation of the importance of gratitude in daily life.
“We have to express gratitude to God not only for the gift of life, but for the gift of faith…. Every single moment of our lives should be an expression of gratitude,” said Blanquisco in a mass he concelebrated with six other priests.
“That’s what we are here for: to thank the Lord, offering ourselves in the service of God. The more that we are grateful, the more we receive from the Lord,” he continued.
After the Mass, Binay’s group proceeded to nearby Tramo Street.
“Pasay has changed a lot. But one thing that has not changed is the hunger that continues,” said Binay noted of the community.
After briefly sharing his life story to the neighborhood, Binay shared a meal of longganisa, adobo, rice and pansit with the residents.