Mar-len Abigail "Abby" Sombillo Binay-Campos (born December 12, 1975) is a Filipino lawyer and politician who has been the
Mayor of Makati
Makati ( ; ), officially the City of Makati (), is a highly urbanized city in the National Capital Region of the Philippines, known for being one of the leading financial centers in the country. As of 2013, the city has the highest concent ...
since 2016. She formerly served in the Congress as Representative of Makati's 2nd District from 2007 to 2016, when she was succeeded by her husband,
Luis Campos. She is also the daughter of former
Vice President
A vice president or 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 vi ...
Jejomar Binay.
Early life and education
Binay was born on December 12, 1975 in
Quezon City
Quezon City (, ; ), also known as the City of Quezon and Q.C. (read and pronounced in Filipino language, Filipino as Kyusi), is the richest and List of cities in the Philippines, most populous city in the Philippines. According to the 2020 c ...
, as the second of five children and the second of four daughters of lawyer
Jejomar Binay and Dr.
Elenita Sombillo. She is the younger sister of
Nancy Binay, a current
Senator
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...
, and the older sister of
Junjun Binay, the former mayor of Makati.
She studied at the
University of the Philippines Los Baños and received her bachelor's degree in human ecology, majoring in human settlements planning. She continued to the
Ateneo de Manila Law School, graduating in 2001. She passed the
Philippine Bar Examination in 2002.
Political career
At a young age, Binay started her career at MABINI under former Senator
Rene Saguisag as part of the defense counsel for the soldiers involved in the
Oakwood mutiny.
House of Representatives (2007–2016)
In 2007, she was elected representative of Makati's 2nd District, succeeding
Butz Aquino and passed several bills under her watch.
Mayor of Makati (2016–present)
In the wake of her brother Junjun's ouster as Makati mayor by the
Ombudsman of the Philippines
In the Philippines, the Office of the Ombudsman () is the constitutional body responsible for investigating and prosecuting Philippine government officials accused of crimes, especially graft and corruption.
Functions
Under the Constitution ...
in 2015,
Binay announced her candidacy as Mayor of Makati, inviting fellow Makati representative
Monique Lagdameo of the
1st district as vice mayor of the city competing with acting mayor
Romulo Peña Jr. and Karla Mercado.
On May 9, 2016, Binay and Lagdameo won the
mayoral and vice-mayoral election, respectively.
They took their oath of office on June 27, 2016. Abby's first day as Mayor of Makati began three days later on June 30, and by that time her father's term as vice president already expired.
As a result, Binay is the fourth Binay family member, the second female Binay member to administer Makati in 15 years since her mother Elenita, who served as
Makati mayor from 1998 to 2001. Overall, she is also the second female mayor of Makati. She was re-elected in
2019
This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year.
Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...
, wherein she also defeated her brother Junjun, and in
2022
The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...
.
In 2023,
United Nations Secretary-General
The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or UNSECGEN) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the United Nations System#Six principal organs, six principal organs of ...
António Guterres
António Manuel de Oliveira Guterres (born 30 April 1949) is a Portuguese politician and diplomat who is serving as the ninth and current secretary-general of the United Nations since 2017. A member of the Socialist Party (Portugal), ...
appointed Binay to his Advisory Group on Local and Regional Governments, co-chaired by
Pilar Cancela Rodríguez and
Fatimatou Abdel Malick.
2025 Senate bid
On May 28, 2024, Binay took oath as a new member of the
Nationalist People's Coalition
The Nationalist People's Coalition (NPC) is a conservatism, conservative political party in the Philippines which was founded in 1992 by presidential candidate Danding Cojuangco.
History
Formation
In 1990, amid political and economic unce ...
. On September 26, 2024, Binay was named as a senatorial candidate for the
Alyansa para sa Bagong Pilipinas in the
2025 elections.
She later formalized her Senate bid on October 4, 2024. Binay would go on to lose the election. She placed 15th garnering 11,808,645 votes.
Makati–Taguig territorial dispute
In 2022, the Supreme Court ruled with finality that the Fort Bonifacio Military Reservation, which includes the
Embo barangays, is confirmed as part of Taguig. Binay claimed that the dispute is "not yet over", stating that her office has received a notice that the Supreme Court has set its case with Taguig for oral arguments. This was contradicted by Supreme Court spokesperson Brian Keith Hosaka, who stated that there are no such documents.
The Taguig City Government slammed Binay's comment and also expressed belief that her meeting with
President Bongbong Marcos
Ferdinand "Bongbong" Romualdez Marcos Jr. (, , ; born September 13, 1957), commonly referred to by the initials BBM or PBBM, is a Filipino politician who has served as the 17th president of the Philippines since 2022. He is the second child ...
,
First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos and
Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo was meant to "undermine the probity of our highest officials and subvert the people's trust in the impartiality of justice".
[ Taguig's mayor sought sanctions against Binay for the statement.
Owing to the loss of the Embo barangays and being term-limited as mayor, Binay has expressed interest in running for Mayor of Taguig. To seek the office, Binay would need to resign as mayor of Makati to establish at least one year of residency in Taguig to be eligible for the post.]Philippine Daily Inquirer
The ''Philippine Daily Inquirer'' (''PDI''), or simply the ''Inquirer'', is an English-language newspaper in the Philippines. Founded in 1985, it is often regarded as the Philippines' newspaper of record. The newspaper is the most awarded broad ...
'' described Binay's potential campaign for mayor of Taguig as a "dynastic invasion" motivated by Makati's loss of the Embo barangays.
Personal life
Binay is married to fellow lawyer Luis Campos, whom she met at the Ateneo Law School in 1998,
References
External links
Profile
- Makati Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Binay, Abigail
1975 births
Abigail
Living people
Mayors of Makati
Partido Demokratiko Pilipino politicians
United Nationalist Alliance politicians
Nationalist People's Coalition politicians
Members of the House of Representatives of the Philippines from Makati
University of the Philippines Los Baños alumni
Ateneo de Manila University alumni
Women mayors of places in the Philippines
Women members of the House of Representatives of the Philippines