Sibling rivalry is preventing the Binay family from having a united ticket in their Makati City bailiwick for next year’s polls.
The feud heightened yesterday when ex-Makati City mayor Jejomar Erwin “Junjun” Binay Jr appeared with his older sister, Senator Maria Lourdes “Nancy” Binay, as the latter filed her certificate of candidacy for her re-election bid under the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA).
Junjun wants to go back to Makati City Hall, which he occupied from 2010 up to 2015 when he was dismissed over a controversial building contract, a decision by the Ombudsman that was later overturned.
This would mean fighting it out with another sister, incumbent mayor Mar-Len Abigail “Abby” Binay-Campos, who wants a second term.
Nancy, 45, admitted to reporters that her younger siblings Abby, 42, and Junjun, 41, were not seeing eye to eye.
“I’m closer to Mayor Junjun because for a time we live in the same house. I guess that’s the reason why I’m closer to him (than Abby),” she said.
The Binay family, led by the patriarch, former vice president Jejomar Binay, mayor of Makati for two decades, will meet over the weekend to resolve the dispute, Nancy said.
“It will be a family decision. The family will collectively decide after the meeting,” she said.
Junjun refused to call it a feud, pointing out that 13 out of 16 Makati councillors and 80% of barangay (village) officials had withdrawn their support from Abby, and “pledged support for me, requesting me to run again.”
Asked about the possibility that the elder Binay would ask one of them to back out, he said, “We will give way to the decision (of our father). We will thresh everything out and we will bow to the decision to solve the problem.”
Abby yesterday however said their father had decided that she, not Junjun, would run for mayor of Makati, the country’s main financial centre and richest city.
“Daddy told him not to run,” Abby told reporters. “Junjun, I hope you listen to our father.”
Abby said it should be clear to Junjun that their father, the chairman of UNA party, was backing her candidacy, because he had agreed to run for a House seat next year under her ticket.
“I have my endorsement letter from UNA, and VP (Jejomar Binay) has already announced that he would be running under my ticket this election. So, I think Junjun should sit this one out,” she said.
Abby said Junjun could run under another party, but she would win anyway because Makati voters trusted her.
She also confirmed that she and Junjun haven’t talked to each other since he invited Makati politicians and officials to his birthday on July 12.
“He didn’t pay attention to me. I guess he already had plans to run that time,” Abby said.
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) yesterday clarified that Junjun can run for office, despite cases over alleged building anomalies during his term as Makati mayor.
Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said Binay could run for mayor as long there was no final conviction that would bar him from running for public office.
“If there’s any appeal, or if it’s not a final decision, then it won’t fit the criteria for disqualification,” Jimenez said.
Binay’s name was among those listed by the Department of the Interior and Local Government as supposedly disqualified from public office.
This was because of the P1.3bn Makati Science High School building and P2.2bn Makati City Hall Building 2 project.
The Office of the Ombudsman found him and 20 others guilty of serious dishonesty and grave misconduct in 2015. The penalties imposed included dismissal from the service, cancellation of eligibility, forfeiture of retirement benefits, perpetual disqualification from holding public office, and bar from taking any civil service examinations. The Court of Appeals, however, ruled that the “condonation doctrine,” which bars any administrative sanction on an elective official for a wrongful act committed during his or her immediately preceding term, applied to Binay.
Junjun’s lawyer, JM Mendoza, confirmed that the case in question was being appealed and could not be used to bar the former Makati mayor from reclaiming his post.
“The decision of the Office of the Ombudsman in connection with the construction of the Makati Science High School building is on appeal and therefore, not final and executory,” Mendoza said in a statement.
Citing the Local Government Code, the lawyer said “only a final and executory judgment that carries with it an accessory penalty of disqualification form holding public office operates to disqualify a person from running for public office.”
Mendoza said any report claiming Junjun was disqualified from running “is misleading and inaccurate.”
Senator Maria Lourdes ‘Nancy’ Binay files her certificate of candidacy for her re-election bid at the Commission on Elections headquarters in Manila yesterday, accompanied by her younger brother, former Makati mayor Jejomar Erwin ‘Junjun’ Binay.
