Mayor Binay NO HOLDS BARRED Armida Siguion-Reyna 06/29/2010

Mayor Binay

NO HOLDS BARRED Armida Siguion-Reyna 06/29/2010 Which of them? This perhaps is what will be asked, years from now, whenever there’s reference to the name and the office. Jejomar, Elenita, or Jejomar Erwin? Jejomar Erwin Binay Jr. took his oath of office as mayor of Makati City before Sen. Chiz Escudero yesterday, with his family, official guests and so much of onlookers and gawkers squeezed into the 21st floor Mayor’s office at the City Hall that prompted someone to quip, “Bakit noong kampanya ang konti namin, ngayon biglang ang dami na?” In August of last year the young Binay lost his wife Kenelly after giving birth to a baby girl, in a rare post-birth complication known as placenta accreta, where the placenta is too deeply attached to the uterus and severe hemorrhage follows attempts to cut it free. By his own admission, he has had a harrowing year. He was all of a sudden single father of four, grieving and overnight thrust into running for the office his father was to vacate. But during his oathtaking, Junjun Binay looked recovered well enough with his four children — two on the mayor’s table, the eldest Alexi beaming in between Lolo Jojo and Lola Ellen, and the baby Maria Kenelly carried by Tita Annie — and if he missed his wife he kept it to his heart. The rites proceeded as scheduled and he declared himself at the full disposal of his city, as “punong-lungsod.” It’s a no-brainer, why he chose the senator to administer his oath. He has explained that, “Sen. Chiz Escudero’s endorsement was instrumental in the winning of the family in the recent elections. During the proclamation night, he was there with us and we want to thank him.” But more than simply the endorsement, the warmth between Escudero and the Binays spoke of deeper family ties. I am told that while waiting for Makati 2nd district Rep.-elect Abby Binay to come in for the picture, Escudero loudly ribbed, “Where is the late Congresswoman Binay?” To which Abby riposted, “Hoy, hindi ako ang mag-o-oathtaking, okay lang na late ako!” JunJun Binay won with 125,664 votes over former political ally Vice-Mayor Ernesto Mercado who got 80,151 votes. That it was an acrimonious fight is an understatement; I recall an incident where nagbatuhan pa raw ng mangga ang mga followers nila and sure, there was a word-war of word-wars, a flurry of press, text and even Facebook releases such as those that had the Mercado camp proudly proclaiming the lead in an SWS survey, which the SWS quickly denied, and a political rally where Mercado supposedly presented four empty coffins purportedly reserved for the Binays, and so on and so forth. Most Makati barangay chairmen also took Mercado’s side. They voted for the father and kesyo also campaigned for him as Vice-President, but did not want the son as mayor for reasons such as “He’s too young,” “Ano ang alam niya?” with the rabidly anti-Jojo going, “Tatay niya rin ang magpapatakbo ng city hall.” Five of Junjun’s councilors won in the first district and only one in the second, while his vice-mayor candidate, singer Rico Puno, lost to Kid Peña. Wags scoff “nahirapan ang taong magtiwala kay Junjun.” A laughable assertion, if you ask me. A winning margin of 45,513 votes cannot be “nahirapan magtiwala.” I look at it simply as a “check-and-balance vote.” Vice-President-elect Jojo says his namesake is ready to govern and effectively, too, “since in his growing years, he witnessed how I led the city,” considering Junjun was at 15, Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) official, or youth representative in the City Council, and from there went on to serve as councilor of the city’s first district. ... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100629com5.html

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