Elenita "Ellen" Sombillo Binay, M.D. (born Elenita Gabriel Sombillo; November 9, 1943) is a Filipina

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

and physician. She served as mayor of

Makati Makati ( ), officially the City of Makati ( fil, Lungsod ng Makati), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the National Capital Region of the Philippines. Makati is the financial center of the Philippines; it has the highest concentration ...

from 1998 to 2001. She is the wife of former

Vice President A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...

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 h ...

. They have several children, some of whom are casting their lots into the political ring. She is the mother of former Makati Mayor Jejomar "Junjun" Binay, Jr., incumbent Makati Mayor

Abigail Binay Mar-len Abigail "Abby" Sombillo Binay-Campos (born December 12, 1975) is a Filipina lawyer and politician who has been the Mayor of Makati since 2016. She formerly served in the Congress as Representative of Makati's 2nd District from 2007 to ...

, and Senator

Nancy Binay Maria Lourdes "Nancy" Sombillo Binay-Angeles (born May 12, 1973) is a Filipina politician serving as a Senator since 2013. She is the daughter of former Vice President Jejomar Binay. Without any prior experience in government, Binay placed a bi ...

Early life and education

Elenita Gabriel Sombillo was born on November 9, 1943 in

Angat, Bulacan Angat, officially the Municipality of Angat ( tgl, Bayan ng Angat), is a 1st class municipality in the province of Bulacan, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 65,617 people. Etymology The Town of Angat got its n ...

to Faustino Sombillo, a former vice mayor of the said town, and Loreto Gabriel. His father also owned a construction company, while her mother had an embroidery export business. Having been orphaned early, she worked at odd jobs like taking care of a relative's poultry, going to the market, and learning to type papers as she was determined to complete her studies. She took up medicine at

Manila Central University The Manila Central University also referred to by its acronym MCU, and formerly named as the ''Escuela de Farmacia del Liceo de Manila'') is a private, non-sectarian, stock basic and higher education institution located on EDSA, Caloocan, ...

. She then worked as a resident physician and

OB-GYN Obstetrics and Gynaecology (also spelled as Obstetrics and Gynecology; abbreviated as Obs and Gynae, O&G, OB-GYN and OB/GYN) is the medical specialty that encompasses the two subspecialties of obstetrics (covering pregnancy, childbirth, and ...

José R. Reyes Memorial Medical Center José R. Reyes Memorial Medical Center's operations started in 1945 in Manila, Philippines as a 450-bed facility known as City Children's Hospital, housed in a borrowed school building and was managed by Fe del Mundo. It was transformed into an em ...

. There, she would meet her would-be husband, human rights lawyer

, who represented the DT Law Office in the hospital's court case. They later got married on July 1972, just before the declaration of

Martial Law Martial law is the imposition of direct military control of normal civil functions or suspension of civil law by a government, especially in response to an emergency where civil forces are overwhelmed, or in an occupied territory. Use Marti ...

Political career

Elenita Binay, though employed as a medical practitioner, ran and won as Mayor of Makati after her husband vacated the post. She became the first female Mayor of Makati, serving from 1998 to 2001. Binay's (and private businessmen Li Yee Shing, Jason Li and Vivian M. Edurise, and Ernesto Aspillaga's) arraignment for graft charges was set by the

Sandiganbayan The Sandiganbayan ( en, Support of the Nation) is a special appellate collegial court in the Philippines that has jurisdiction over criminal and civil cases involving graft and corrupt practices and other offenses committed by public office ...

's 4th Division on January 18, 2008. Binay was charged of alleged anomalous purchase of office fixtures and furniture for the new Makati City Hall from private contractor Office Gallery International from December 1999 to February 2000, regarding the acquisitions worth overpriced by .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Binay, Elenita Living people 1943 births Mayors of Makati Filipino women medical doctors Women mayors of places in the Philippines PDP–Laban politicians Elenita People from Makati 20th-century Filipino medical doctors 21st-century Filipino medical doctors 20th-century women physicians 21st-century women physicians Filipino Roman Catholics