Jejomar Binay

Jejomar "Jojo" Cabauatan Binay Sr. (born Jesus Jose Cabauatan Binay; November 11, 1942) is a Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the 13th vice president of the Philippines from 2010 to 2016, under President Benigno Aquino III.

A human rights lawyer during the Martial law period under President Ferdinand Marcos, Binay provided free legal services to political prisoners before being arrested and detained at the Ipil Rehabilitation Center.

He also helped found the Movement for Brotherhood, Integrity and Nationalism, Inc. (MABINI) along with other human rights lawyers.

He went to the University of the Philippines Diliman for college and graduated in 1962 with a degree in political science.

While studying at UP, he became member of the Alpha Phi Omega fraternity.

He continued on to the UP College of Law and graduated in 1967 then passed the bar examinations in 1968.

During the period of martial law under President Ferdinand Marcos, he represented political prisoners in the 1970s for no charge.

After some time, he himself was detained.

Binay entered into legal aid by starting the Lupon ng mga Manananggol ng Bayan (LUMABAN) in 1970 during the First Quarter Storm.

He was imprisoned in 1973, and after he was released, Binay entered the Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG) led by Sen. Jose. W. Diokno, and became chairman of its Metro Manila Chapter.

He got a master's degree from the University of Santo 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.

In 1980, Binay, Augusto "Bobbit" Sanchez, Rene Saguisag, Fulgencio Factoran, Lorenzo Tañada, Joker Arroyo, and other human rights lawyers created the Movement of Attorneys for Brotherhood, Integrity, and Nationalism (MABINI).

Binay was appointed by President Corazon Aquino as officer-in-charge of Makati as mayor from 1986 to 1987.

On February 27, 1986, Binay became one of President Corazon Aquino’s first appointed local officials after Mayor Nemesio Yabut died while in office during the EDSA Revolution.

After his tenure, he was elected as mayor of Makati in 1988 and served until 2010, serving 6 consecutive terms as mayor.

He was elected in his own right on January 18, 1988, and was reelected on May 11, 1992, and on May 8, 1995.

Concurrently, he was also the chairman of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) from 1990 to 1991.

In 1993, he received a diploma in Land Use Program from the University of the Philippines.

Binay was known as the first city mayor of Makati, as the municipality became a highly-urbanized city on February 4, 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.

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.

Upon passing the bar examination to be a lawyer, Binay took up human rights law.

He became term-limited in 1998 and his position was kept by his wife Elenita.

On May 14, 2001, Binay reclaimed his post as mayor of Makati, winning over actor, television host, and then-vice mayor Edu Manzano in a landslide victory and became a critic of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

On October 21, 2009 it was announced that Binay would seek the vice-presidency as the running mate of presidential candidate Joseph Estrada.

Though the latter lost to Benigno Aquino III, Binay won the vice presidency, garnering 41.65% of the vote cast, with runner up Mar Roxas receiving 39.58%.

During his time as vice president of the Philippines, he was appointed chairman of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council and as presidential adviser on overseas Filipino workers but resigned on June 22, 2015, due to differences with President Benigno Aquino and some of his cabinet members.

Binay ran and failed to secure a senate position in the 2022 general elections, garnering over 13 million votes and placing thirteenth on the vote list.

In 2018, Binay was identified by the Human Rights Victims' Claims Board as a Motu Proprio human rights violations victim of the Martial Law Era.

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, and Lourdes Gatan Cabauatan, 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.

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