It’s all in the family

Vice President Jejomar Binay, dismissed Mayor Junjun Binay and Sen. Nancy Binay. FILE PHOTO

I’m not motivated by personal reasons when I criticize Vice President Jojo Binay who’s running for President in the May 9 election.

Trabaho lang, as they say in Filipino. Just doing my job as an opinion writer.

I dug into my memory bank recently and asked my subconscious mind why I have distrusted Binay ever since.

The answer came fast—accidentally.

I was digging through my files of past columns, which I intend to compile and make into a book, when I chanced upon an item I wrote for the June 4, 1990 issue of the Inquirer.

Here’s what I wrote in my column then:

“The YMCA in Makati has been closed to the public since May 22.

“If you want to know the reason, ask His Highness, Mayor Jejomar Binay.

“Binay and his children wanted to take a dip in the YMCA pool last May 20, Sunday, according to my sources.

“The mayor sent an advance party of security men to ‘sanitize’ the swimming pool area.

“But the receptionist at the time who’s new at her job and so didn’t know any better disallowed Binay’s security men from entering the pool area.

“She said she would have to look for a certain Mrs. Judilla who would give permission to the men to enter the area which is exclusive to YMCA members and guests accompanied by members.

“Mrs. Judilla took a long time in showing up so Binay’s men left in a huff.

“And then a few minutes later, Makati’s ‘Royal Family’ led by Jejomar The First came. Binay was fuming and threatened to close down the YMCA.

“He made good his word. The closure came two days later on May 22.

“For a guy who, friends say, washed orinolas for prostitutes in Culi-Culi when he was young, Jejomar Binay has come a long way—in success as well as in (acquiring a sense of) entitlement..”

* * *

Folks, in 1990 when that column item about Binay was written, he was not yet an elected mayor of Makati.

He was named officer in charge of the city by the new Cory Aquino government, his reward for consistently joining protest rallies against the Marcos martial law regime.

If power had already gone to his head when he was just an appointed mayor, how much more if he becomes our President.

* * *

Being abusive seems to run in the Binay family.

People still remember what happened to the security guards at the gate of Dasmariñas Village in Makati in 2013 for not allowing then Mayor Junjun Binay to pass the gate as it was only already late. Junjun orered the arrest of the guards who were deheld by police for several hours.

READ: Winnie Monsod: Guards were correct, Binay was wrong

The vice president  defended his son’s and Sen. Nancy Binay’s acts—yes,  Nancy was with Mayor Junjun—saying Junjun should have been given due courtesy because of his position as mayor.

READ: VP Binay: My son deserves courtesy

Rep. Abby Binay, who’s running for Makati mayor in the upcoming election, was also reported to have warned her family’s critics that they would get back at them if her father becomes President.

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