Presidential candidate Vice President Jejomar Binay.
INQUIRER FILE PHOTO/LYN RILLON
ON Feb. 25, 1986, human rights lawyer and activist Jejomar Binay brought democracy icon Cory Aquino to her oath-taking as the country’s president.
Binay told this story of fetching Aquino from her sister’s residence in Wack Wack for her oath-taking at Club Filipino in San Juan to the Philippine Daily Inquirer’s Volt Contreras in a Feb. 2009 report.
And in writing the introduction to “Rambutito, Basurero, Uzirero, atbp,” a collection of Binay’s writings, Aquino remembered this fond moment with Binay.
“Even after EDSA, I was already closely associated with Jojo. He was one of those who fetched me in my sister’s residence to go to Club Filipino for my oath-taking,” Aquino wrote.
Aquino said Binay even risked his life when he removed a barrier that stood in the way as they were heading to her late husband Ninoy Aquino’s grave after the oath-taking.
“When, after the oath-taking, I proceeded to Ninoy’s grave to offer the flowers that were given to me at Club Filipino, it was Jojo who personally removed, at great risk to his life, the barriers that stood in our way along EDSA near Guadalupe Nuevo,” Aquino said.
Before the four-day people power revolt, Binay was already in the streets marching against Marcos as a human rights lawyer who represented victims of the dictator.
Binay was also a member of the legal team which defended press freedom advocate Joe Burgos from his subversion charge. Burgos was the publisher and editor of the WE Forum, which was part of the mosquito press highly critical of the Marcos regime.
Binay was one of the founders of the Movement of Attorneys for Brotherhood, Integrity and Nationalism (Mabini) with renowned lawyers Rene Saguisag, the late Joker Arroyo, Lorenzo Tañada, and Wigberto Tañada.
Because of his stance on martial law, Binay was detained at the Ipil Rehabilitation Center.
In a statement published on the old blogsite of the United Opposition (jojobinay.wordpress.com), Binay said he first met Cory at the military tribunal of the latter’s husband.
“I first met President Cory Aquino during the military trial of her husband, former senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino. I was then a young human rights lawyer assisting the defense panel led by legal luminaries former Sen. Lorenzo Tañada and now Senator Joker Arroyo. My job then was to carry the law books and legal documents for the panel during the hearings,” Binay said in a statement published Aug. 2, 2009, a day after Cory’s passing.
In the Inquirer report, Binay recalls being in a meeting with rebel forces and Joker Arroyo at Camp Crame on Feb. 24, 1986.
Binay and his friend Joker then walked to a colleague’s house to contact Aquino, who had just arrived from Cebu a day before to stay at her sister’s house in Wack-Wack.
At around 10 a.m., Binay, Arroyo and Aquino along with other key supporters met at Greenhills, San Juan.
“The long and short of it is that Cory told us: “Lalabas tayo (We’re coming out),” Binay was quoted in the Inquirer report.
Binay said Aquino was told that someone might try to assassinate her.
Binay quoted Aquino as replying: “Akala ko ba ang usapan natin dito ay kung kailangan magbuwis ng buhay, magbuwis ng buhay? Bakit naman nag-iiba na tayo (I thought it was agreed that we would sacrifice our lives if we need to? Why the change)?”
Aquino would later address the crowd in EDSA at the lobby of the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency (POEA) building in EDSA corner Ortigas Avenue around 4:30 p.m. on the third day of the EDSA revolt.
“That was a turn in history. That was Cory asserting her leadership,” Binay was quoted in the report as saying.
A day later, Marcos would flee, and Binay would be the one fetching the next president of the Republic of the Philippines.
But Aquino was late for 30 minutes for her proclamation at the historic Club Filipino in San Juan – Binay said her vehicle wouldn’t start and had to be fixed first.
Binay’s account
In a statement sent by Binay’s communications director Joey Salgado, Binay himself recounts what happened in the five-day revolt.
On the first day, the human rights lawyer Binay accompanied Aquino’s son Noynoy around Makati to thank the residents for electing Aquino in the snap elections.
Over the radio, they heard that Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile and General Fidel Ramos had broken away from Marcos and are holed up in Camp Crame. They called up Cory, then in Cebu, who told Noynoy to bring his sisters to a relative’s house in Wack Wack.
Binay then brought Noy to the Aquino residence in Times Street before proceeding to EDSA, Salgado said.
“For the next four days he would walk the length of Edsa from Crossing to Santolan, and as far as Shaw, Wack Wack and Addition Hills. He only went home for quick naps and cold showers (“para magising at matanggal ang nerbiyos”), often interrupted by frantic calls from protesters at Edsa,” Salgado said.
Salgado said Binay conferred mostly with Joker Arroyo, Mabini lawyers, and ATOM members in inspecting barricades and mobilizing the people to block the army tanks.
“Awa ng Diyos kapag hindi mo pa oras walang mangyayari sa iyo,” Binay was quoted by Salgado as saying.
On the third day, Binay said there was heated a meeting among him, Cory and Arroyo at the Wack Wack residence whether or not Cory should address the crowd.
Cory wanted to present herself before the crowd despite the security concerns.
She told the meeting: “Akala ko ba ang usapan nating kung kailangang gawin ang supreme sacrifice gagawin natin?”
Binay was then instructed by Cory’s brother Peping Cojuangco to look for a place where Cory can address the crowd at EDSA. Binay chose the POEA building
“Then Cory turned to her brother Peping and told him to look for a place. Peping then turned to the VP and said ‘Jojo, humanap ka ng lugar,'” Salgado said.
“Cory’s triumphant speech at Edsa asserted civilian supremacy and the establishment of a revolutionary government. It was the final nail in the coffin of the dictatorship,” Salgado added.
After Cory took her oath at Club Filipino on Feb. 25, 1986, Binay also accompanied her to visit Ninoy’s grave at the Manila Memorial Park.
This was when Binay risked his life to remove the barricades blocking the way.
“Portions of Edsa were still barricades and VP would get out of the car to talk to the protesters to remove the barricades. At Manila memorial, Cory said a silent prayer at Ninoy’s tomb,” Salgado said.
Binay and Aquino’s roots go a long way back – for one, Binay founded with Senator Butz Aquino the anti-Marcos August 21 Movement (ATOM), which on that fateful first day of Edsa appealed to the people over the radio to converge on the streets.
Aug. 21 was a reference to the date of assassination of Butz’ brother, Cory’s husband Sen. Ninoy Aquino, at the airport tarmac on Aug. 21, 1983.
On Feb. 27, 1986, just days after the people power revolt, Aquino would appoint Binay as officer-in-charge of Makati.
In a speech at the Mabini Annual Convention on July 1986 as cited in his collection of writings, Binay said he wanted to apply his experience as a human rights lawyer in leading Makati.
He said his experience as a Mabini lawyer taught him that a basic human right is the right to good government.
“Since I assumed office, I have been asked many times by friends and strangers alike: ‘Is there a change in your role as a Mabini lawyer now that you are in government?’ Invariably, my answer is: ‘My role as a Mabini lawyer has not changed, it is only the venue that has changed,’” Binay said.
“For Mabini, as well all know, is a Movement for Brotherhood, Integrity and Nationalism with strong emphasis on human rights. That means we shall continue to fight for human rights regardless of where we are. And I believe that one of the most important human rights is the right to have a good government,” he added.
Aquino praised Binay for his term as Makati officer in charge, and later as an elected mayor. Binay was elected Makati mayor from 1988 to 1998 and 2001 to 2010.
“In a way, I monitored Jojo’s activities and was very much gratified with the way he was handling his job as OIC mayor and later as acting mayor. His well-known compassion for the poor and his adherence to freedom, to the point of fanaticism, were very much evident,” Aquino said in her foreword, adding that this was her reason she appointed Binay governor of the Metropolitan Manila Commission in a concurrent capacity.
Binay would later be the vice president of Cory’s son Pres. Benigno Aquino III after the 2010 elections.
When Binay resigned from the Cabinet in 2015 to assume the leading figure of the opposition, Binay became Aquino’s harshest critic, calling the son ineffective, insensitive and bumbling. Binay proposed a better and more compassionate administration under his watch.
Binay also lamented the allegations of corruption against him under the new Aquino administration. Binay was indicted for malversation, graft and falsification of public documents by the Ombudsman for allegedly rigging the procurement process for the design and construction of the Makati car park building.
He was also recommended to be charged with plunder by the Senate Blue Ribbon subcommittee which investigated allegations of kickbacks for and hidden wealth of Binay as Makati mayor.
In his speech for the first 30 days as Makati mayor delivered at the Rotary Club of Makati East, the newly installed mayor Binay said he would rid Makati of the graft and corruption that became rampant during the Marcos regime.
“The government of President Corazon Aquino is pledged to public service of the highest level. The municipal government of Makati echoes that call,” Binay then said.
“The national government has mounted a crusade against graft, corruption, cronyism, and other abhorrent evils of the past regime. We are embarking on a similar crusade in Makati,” he added.
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