Jejomar Binay

Early life

Jejomar Binay was born in Paco, Manila. The name "Jejomar" is a portmanteau of Jesus, Joseph, and Mary. He is the younger of two children of Diego "Jego" Medrano Binay, a librarian from Bauan, Batangas, a school teacher from Cabagan, Isabela. He had an older sibling who died before he was born making him the only one who survived childhood. After being orphaned at the age of nine, he was adopted by his uncle, Ponciano Binay. He helped the poor and needy during his early teens. Being the kuya of his family, he helped them study and get jobs.

Education

Binay finished basic education at the Philippine Normal College Training Department and graduated from the University of the Philippines Preparatory School.

He went to the University of the Philippines Diliman for college and graduated in 1962 with a degree in Political Science. He continued on to the UP College of Law and graduated in 1967 then passed the bar examinations in 1968. He got a master's degree from the University of Sto. Tomas in 1980 and a master's degree in National Security Administration from the National Defense College of the Philippines. He took up Strategic Economic Program in the Center for Research and Communication. He enrolled in a Non-Resident and General Staff Course at the Command and General Staff College, AFP and joined the seniors executive fellow program at the John F. Kennedy School of Government in Harvard University. He earned a doctorate in Public Administration (Honoris Causa) from the Polytechnic University of the Philippines, and Doctor of Humanities (Honoris Causa) from the Laguna State Polytechnic University. In 1993, he received a diploma in Land Use Program from the University of the Philippines. In 1996, he finished the Top Management Program at the Asian Institute of Management in Bali, Indonesia. He also took up the Joint Services and Command Staff course in the AFP. He also has a master's degree in Management at the Philippine Christian University and a diploma in Environmental and Natural Resources Management from the University of the Philippines Open University.

Legal career

Upon passing the bar examination to be a lawyer, Binay took up human rights law. During the Martial Law period, he represented political prisoners in the 1970s for no charge. After some time, he himself was detained.

It was also during the Marcos regime that Binay and other human rights lawyers created the Movement of Attorneys for Brotherhood, Integrity, and Nationalism (MABINI)

First and Third term

On February 27, 1986, Binay became one of President Corazon Aquino’s first appointed local officials after Mayor Nemesio I. Yabut died while in office during the EDSA Revolution. He was elected in his own right on January 18, 1988 and was reelected on May 11, 1992 and on May 8, 1995.

He joined pro-democracy forces in preventing the mutinies against the Aquino administration from being successful. His active role in the defense of the Constitution earned him the nickname "Rambotito" (or little Rambo, after the screen hero), the Outstanding Achievement Medal and a special commendation from Aquino.

Fourth and Sixth Term

On May 14, 2001, Binay reclaimed his post as mayor of Makati, winning over actor, TV host, and then-vice mayor Edu Manzano in a landslide victory and became a critic of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. He won his fifth term on May 10, 2004 by a large margin against 1st district Councilor Oscar Ibay. He ran for his sixth and last term as mayor May 14, 2007 and won again by a significant margin beating incumbent Senator and actor Lito Lapid. His margin over Lapid has been considered as the largest margin in a local election in Makati City.

In October 2006, the Department of the Interior and Local Government issued a suspension order against then Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay, Vice Mayor Ernesto Mercado, and all members of the City Council following an accusation of 'ghost employees' on the city payroll by former Vice Mayor Roberto Brillante, a political rival. Refusing to cooperate with the suspension order, he barricaded himself inside the Makati City Hall. Among those who expressed support were former President Corazon Aquino, actress Susan Roces - the widow of the late movie star and 2004 opposition presidential candidate Fernando Poe Jr. - and several Catholic bishops. After a three-day stand-off, the Court of Appeals issued a temporary restraining order. Before it lapsed, the court issued an injunction order, thereby preventing the Office of the President from enforcing its suspension order until the case was resolved.

Binay - together with his wife, Elenita, and nine others - was vindicated by the courts in a graft case filed by the Office of the Ombudsman over allegations of overpricing in the purchase of office furniture. Allegedly, he had irregular purchases worth ₱232 million from the years 1991-2006. The case was also filed by Brillante, who at that time was leading in Makati a Palace-supported signature campaign to amend the Constitution. The Sandiganbayan Third Division dismissed the graft case filed against him and his six co-accused for lack of factual basis even prior to Binay's arraignment. Critics claim the suspension order was intended to distract attention from the government's own scandals.

On May 2, 2007 the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) froze all the bank accounts of the city government of Makati and the personal accounts of then Mayor Binay and then Vice Mayor Mercado.

The BIR issued the order after it said the city still owed the BIR ₱1.1 billion in withholding taxes of city employees from 1999 to 2002. BIR revenue officer Roberto Baquiran signed and issued the warrant of garnishment against the bank accounts that belonged to Binay, Mercado, the city government and the city’s treasurer and accountant.

The city government protested the garnishment order, saying the city had already paid ₱200 million to the BIR as part of a settlement agreement agreed to by Finance Secretary Margarito Teves and former BIR chief Jose Buñag. The city also said the order was flawed, since Baquiran had no authority to issue writs of garnishment and freezing the personal accounts of Binay and Mercado were also unlawful.

Ordered by the Court of Tax Appeals (CTA), Binay was made to pay the deficiency in taxes amounting to more than ₱1.1 billion to the BIR, in December 2009.

The garnishment orders were eventually lifted by Malacañang Palace, but not until after Binay slammed the move as politically motivated and patently illegal.

Binay's camp claimed and accused former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo of political harassment. Because of this, as per the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), a suspension order was served against Binay over alleged corruption. The latter said that the tax obligations were already settled between the BIR and the Makati City government.

And again, barely a week before the local elections, the Ombudsman suspended him based on allegations made by a local candidate allied with Malacañan. It would be revealed that the charges were supported by falsified statements. In a repeat of the October 2006 incident, heavily armed policemen barged into the City Hall after office hours, forcibly opening the offices and occupying the building. He confronted police officials and representatives of the Department of Interior and Local Government, while hundreds of supporters once again swarmed the city hall quadrangle to show their support.

The suspension order generated national media attention, and prompted even administration senatorial candidates to protest publicly, saying the action further undermined their chances in the elections. Despite the controversy of this tax liability issue, Binay still won the position of vice president in 2010 by a landslide victory

A photo of then Vice Presidential candidate and former Makati City Mayor Binay, with his rumored mistress, was leaked online.

Though he admitted to having an extramarital affair, he said that the leaked photo was part of "black propaganda" against him, because of his high ratings in the Vice Presidential survey conducted prior to the leaking of the photo.

The alleged "black propaganda" device had little to no effect on the campaign of Binay, who closed the gap of votes between him and leading vice presidential candidate Senator Manuel "Mar" Roxas II in a formerly conducted survey. Despite the issue, Binay's landslide victory landed him the position of vice president.

Vice Presidency

Binay initially announced his bid for the presidency for the 2010 elections during his 66th birthday celebration at the Makati City Hall on November 11, 2008 but abandoned his bid in order to give way to the reelection bid of former President Estrada. He eventually became Estrada’s running mate and ran under the banner of PDP-Laban (Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan).

He initially showed a relatively poor performance in the public opinion polls, trailing behind Senators Loren Legarda and Mar Roxas, who was heavily favored to win the race, but his standings improved as the elections approached, overtaking Legarda and tying with Roxas in the final survey conducted. He went on to narrowly defeat Roxas in the election by 700,000 votes.

Roxas filed an election protest before the Presidential Electoral Tribunal of the Supreme Court, which is still currently pending.

Binay took his oath as vice president on June 30, 2010, becoming the first local government official to do so.

He was appointed as chairman of the Housing Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) by President Noynoy Aquino, the same position held by his predecessor, Vice-President Noli de Castro and Presidential Adviser for OFW Concerns. He also heads the Task Force OFW which helps Overseas Filipino Workers who were maltreated by their employers to return to the Philippines with the assistance of the government.

There are numerous corruption allegations against Binay dating from 2014 to the present time:

Investigations regarding all these allegations of corruption are being conducted by the Department of Justice (DOJ), the Philippine Senate, and the Office of the Ombudsman.

Binay is currently facing accusations by former vice president of the Boy Scouts of the Philippines (BSP), Ernesto Mercado, of accepting and misappropriating money received from a deal between the BSP and Alphaland Corporation back in 2008. Initially accused of receiving ₱200 million in kickback from the deal and using it to fund his 2010 campaign for vice president, Mercado has amended his statement to reflect the possibility that if Binay has sold the shares he received, he could have made anywhere between ₱233 million and ₱651 million.

Mercado has also stated that although the Boy Scouts of the Philippines were supposed to have received ₱600 million for their end of the deal, the organization has yet to be compensated. This is seconded by the current vice president of the BSP, Atty. Wendel Avisado who further added that he believes that they will only be paid when construction of the podium in Alphaland Makati Tower is completed. Avisado adds, however, that Alphaland has been consistently paying the BSP ₱530,000 monthly for the use of a BSP podium that is currently being used by Alphaland as a showroom.

Sen. Trillanes believes that if Binay becomes president, he will release former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and the 3 Senators allegedly involved in the Pork barrel scam, Bong Revilla, Jinggoy Estrada and Juan Ponce Enrile from detention. The subcommittee concluded the hearings on January 25, 2016.

Currently, Binay's camp is denying these allegations.

Presidential bid

Initially he polled highly among expected presidential candidates for the Philippine general election, 2016. However, in the September 2015 Pulse Asia he placed third after Senator Grace Poe and Mar Roxas, the ruling Liberal Party presidential candidate. His trust rating had also dropped 18%.

Speculation as to who his running mate will be come 2016 have seen fingers pointed in many directions, including the likes of PLDT Chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan, Senator Jinggoy Estrada, Rep. Manny Pacquiao, Nacionalista Party President Manny Villar, and Batangas Governor Vilma Santos. But later revealed to be Gringo Honasan.

Platform

Vice President Binay disclosed his platform for his 2016 Presidential bid during his speech in the Integrated Bar of the Philippines in Cebu City on March 20, 2015.

He aims to improve the situation in the state colleges and universities, public health hospitals and clinics, police stations, and mass housing. An increase in both salaries and benefits of public school teachers and health workers, members of the police force, and other public servants was also promised. In his plans include a redesigning and re-engineering of the transportation system of the country, as well as prioritizing the building of more infrastructures and the creation of more jobs. He proposes to change the constitution to boost the economy, and speed up the country's development.

In early July of the same year, Binay expressed UNA's (his party list) platform for 2016 in a speech:

Ang sigaw ng UNA at ng taumbayan sawa na tayo sa kahirapan, sawa na tayo sa kawalan ng hanapbuhay, sawa na tayo sa kriminalidad at ilegal na droga. Sawa na tayo sa kakulangan ng basic services... hirap na tayo sa manhid at palpak na pamahalaan,

What UNA and the citizens are expressing is that we're tired of poverty, we're tired of unemployment, we're tired of criminals and illegal drugs. We're tired of the lack of basic services...we're struggling under a numb and failed government,

Personal life

He is married to Dr. Elenita Sombilo Binay, who also served as mayor of Makati from 1998 to 2001. They have 5 children:

In addition to his five children, Binay is also the grandfather to thirteen grandchildren.

Recognition

1992

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006