JunJun Binay files COC for Makati mayor

FILE: Former Makati Mayor Jejomar Erwin “Junjun” Binay, Jr. (PNA photo by Avito C. Dalan)

Former Makati Mayor Jejomar Erwin “Junjun” Binay, Jr. on Tuesday, October 16, filed his certificate of candidacy (COC) for Makati City’s top post, launching an electoral battle against his sister, re-electionist Mayor Abigail “Abby” Binay, for the 2019 polls.

Senator Nancy Binay, who is also eyeing for another term in the Senate, accompanied her brother, who will run under the local party Una and Makati (UAM), in filing his COC.

According to a News5 report, Junjun Binay’s running mate is Makati 1st District Representative Monsour Del Rosario.

The son of former Vice President Jejomar Binay made this move even after Abby Binay appealed to him not to seek the mayoral post in the upcoming midterm elections and asked him to give her a “chance.”

“This will divide our family even after the elections. You know my brother, through all the joy and the sorrow I have been with him,” the incumbent Makati mayor told ABS-CBN’s Headstart on Monday.

“In all the crises that he has been through, personally and politically, I was with him… I was standing up for him, I was helping [him], ate ako ‘di ba? Sana bigyan niya ako ng chance (I’m the older sister right? I hope he gives me a chance),” she added as she paused for a moment to hold back her tears.

Abby Binay, former Makati 2nd District Representative, also stressed that she would never even tell her father that she wants to run against her brother, who was then sitting as the mayor of the country’s financial hub.

“It’s inconceivable for us na magbanggaan (to become rivals). Kaya ‘di ko maintindihan bakit niya ‘ko binabangga (That is why I do not understand why he is waging battle against me),” the mayor said.

“I’m not fighting with my brother. I’m not in the business of making our family miserable nor will I wash our dirty linen in public,” she continued.

In 2015, Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales ordered the dismissal of the former Makati mayor after he was found guilty of serious dishonesty and grave misconduct over irregularities in the construction of the Makati City Hall Parking Building II (MCHPB).

This decision, however, was reversed by the Court of Appeals (CA) in May 2018, stressing that the condonation doctrine that the Supreme Court (SC) struck down in November 2015 may still be applied in Junjun Binay’s case.

The former vice president, for his part, kept his hands off the mayoralty battle between his children.

“Nirerespeto ko ang desisyon nilang kumandidato bilang punong-lungsod ng Makati (I respect their decisions to run as mayor of Makati),” the elder Binay said.

“Hindi ako ang magpapasya kung sino sa kanila ang karapat-dapat na maging punong-lungsod. Ang magpapasya nyan ay ang mga mamamayan ng Makati (I’m not the one to decide who is worthy to become mayor between them. It is the people of Makati City who will decide),” he added.