Nancy Binay defends dad, laments ‘desecration’ of grandma’s memory

Sen. Nancy Binay on Wednesday defended her father from those questioning his claim that he grew up poor after his mother died of breast cancer.

In an interview during Vice President Jejomar Binay’s campaign sortie in Tanauan, Batangas, the eldest daughter of the United Nationalist Alliance standard-bearer said her father at 9 years old could not have sold the family’s properties to buy medicine for his ailing mother.

The senator lamented that even the memory of her grandmother was being used by her father’s detractors to question his claims to poverty.

“‘Yung istorya ng childhood nya, doon siya nakaranas ng hirap because he was orphaned at namatay ang mother niya at a very young age, he was just 9 years old. Ang nag-alaga sa kanya, ang tiyuhin niya. So, iyon ang pinagdaanan niya,” she said.

“Nakakalungkot kasi pati ‘yun, desecrating the memory of my lola. How low can we go na pati ‘yung pagkamatay ng lola ko ay kinukwestiyon nila. Remember that he was just 9 years old.”

Questions surrounding the Vice President’s roots to poverty surfaced after Binay was asked about his properties during the presidential debates in Cagayan de Oro City on Sunday.

He was asked about his earlier statement that he earned his properties through inheritance.

The UNA bet was then asked how could he be from poor when he was young if his family had properties.

Even his campaign advertisement showing him as a young boy grieving over the dead body of his mother was questioned as the ad said his family was too poor to afford medication for the matriarch.

The Vice President was asked why his family didn’t sell the properties to buy medicine for his sick mother.

During the debate, Binay denied owning several tracts of land, saying he acquired most of his properties through hard work and inheritance.

“Hindi po totoo na ako ay maraming lupa, ito ay either namana ko o either nabili ko. Hindi lang sa nanay ko yun, pati sa tatay ko,” Binay said.

He was able to purchase some of the properties, he said, by working as a lawyer and with the help of his wife Dr. Elenita Binay.

“Uulitin ko po, ang aking propedad ay namana ko bago ako napunta sa panunungkulan,” he said.

Senator Binay said the worth then of the property inherited by her father could not have been enough to cover the medication of her grandmother.

“Kapag mayroon kayong isang kapamilya, mayroon kayong kasamahan ngayon na nasa ospital, kahit gaano kalaki ng naipon ninyo, kung ang sakit ay cancer, dina-dialysis ka, mauubusan at mauubusan ka. At ang pinag-uusapan natin na property ay 63 years ago at ano bang [worth ng] properties … noon?” she said.

“And unang-una pa, that property na namana niya doon sa nanay niya, hindi pa iyon pagmamay-ari ng lolo’t lola ko. It was still, kumbaga, pagmamay-ari pa iyon ng lola ng Vice President natin. So, it was not at their disposal to be used to buy medicines,” she added.

According to the Vice President’s statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN) in 2014, he has one inherited property, a residential land in Cabagan, Isabela, with a current fair market value of P880,460 and acquisition cost of P25,000. It was inherited in 1951.

In his 2012 SALN, he declared a second inherited property , an agricultural land in San Pascual, Batangas, with a current market value of P22.957 million and acquisition cost of P25,000. It is now under mortgage.

The Vice President’s other properties as declared in his 2014 SALN are:

∙ A residential land in Caong Street, Makati City, purchased in 1977 with an acquisition cost of P106,800 and current market value of P1.104 million

∙ A residential land in Caong Street, Makati, purchased in 2000 with an acquisition cost of P4.5 million and current market value of P1.113 million

∙ A residential land in Caong Street, Makati, purchased in 2004 with an acquisition cost of P8.8 million and current market value of P8.8 million.

∙ A residential land in Alabang Hills, Cupang, Muntinlupa City, purchased in 1964 with an acquisition cost of P12,500 and current market value of P819,000

∙ A residential land in Victoria Homes, Tunasan, Muntinlupa, purchased in 1964 with an acquisition cost of P12,500 and current market value of P430,100

∙ A residential land in Shangri-La Village, Calamba, Laguna, which was donated to him in 1984 with a current market value of P1.581 million

∙ A residential/agricultural land in Liyang, Pilar, Bataan, purchased in 1991 with an acquisition cost of P47,795 and current market value of P717,970

∙ An agricultural (fruit) land in Mariveles, Bataan, purchased in 1965 with an acquisition cost of P1,645 and current market value of P150,000

∙ A residential land in Balaytigue, Nasugbu, Batangas, purchased in 1996 with an acquisition cost of P378,000 and current market value of P2.16 million.

∙ An agricultural land in Olo-Olo, Lobo, Batangas, purchased in 2006 with an acquisition cost of P15,183 and current market value of P33,690

The Vice President’s declared net worth in 2014 is P60.25 million, or assets worth P76.301 million less his liabilities worth P16.050 million. RC