Jejomar Erwin "Junjun" Sombillo Binay Jr. (born July 12, 1977) is a Filipino politician who served as 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 ...

from 2010 to 2015. He is the only son of former Vice President Jejomar Binay. He was initially dismissed from office 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 ...

but this decision was overturned by the

Court of Appeals An appellate court, commonly called a court of appeal(s), appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear a case upon appeal from a trial court or other lower tribunal. Appellat ...

in a ruling dated May 3, 2018. He is perpetually banned from holding public office after the Court of Appeals affirmed on May 28, 2019, charges of grave misconduct, dishonesty and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service over the construction of a Makati school building.

Early life

Binay was born on July 12, 1977, as the third of five children and the only son of Jejomar Binay and Elenita Sombillo. He is the younger brother of

Nancy Binay Maria Lourdes "Nancy" Sombillo Binay Angeles (born May 12, 1973) is a Filipino politician who is the mayor-elect of Makati, having been elected in 2025 to replace her sister Abby. She has served as a senator of the Philippines since 2013. ...

, 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 Abby Binay, the current mayor of

. From 1996 to 2001, Binay attended the

University of the Philippines Diliman The University of the Philippines Diliman (also called UPD; ), also referred to as UP Diliman, is a State university and college (Philippines), public, coeducational, Research university, research university located in Diliman, Quezon City, Ph ...

, where he graduated with a B.A. degree in Philippine studies major in Malikhaing Pagsulat (creative writing), and public administration, cum laude. He also holds a master's degree in public administration from the UP National College for Public Administration and Governance.

Political career

At a young age, Binay was groomed by his father in local politics as a

Sangguniang Kabataan A Sangguniang Kabataan (abbreviated as SK; ) is a community council that represents the youth in a barangay in the Philippines. Established to provide young people with a platform for civic engagement and participation in Local government in ...

(Youth Council) president of barangay San Antonio from 1992 to 2001 and later as city councilor for three consecutive terms. During his days as councilor, he was concurrently chairman of the Committee of Rules, Legal Matters and Ethics and the Committee on Education, Arts and Sciences. He was also a member of three other committees. Being barred by the constitution to run for a fourth consecutive term, he ran instead for mayor for the

2010 Makati local elections Local elections were held in Makati on May 10, 2010, within the 2010 Philippine general election, Philippine general election. The voters will elect for the elective local posts in the city: the mayor, vice mayor, two district representatives, ...

. He had singer and former councilor Rico J. Puno as his running mate. He won the mayoral race defeating outgoing Vice Mayor Ernesto Mercado in a landslide victory, while Puno lost to Mercado's running mate, Makati's ABC President Romulo Peña Jr. from Barangay Valenzuela. He took oath on June 28, 2010, administered by Senator

Francis Escudero Francis Joseph "Chiz" Guevara Escudero (, born October 10, 1969) is a Filipino politician and lawyer who has served as the 25th president of the Senate of the Philippines since May 20, 2024. Escudero has served as a Senate of the Philippines, s ...

at the Makati City Hall. In the May 13, 2013, Makati local elections, Binay won over token opponent Renato Bondal via a massive landslide by garnering 208,748 of the total popular votes to secure a second term. On June 29, 2015, Binay received his second suspension order from the Office of the Ombudsman in connection to the corruption allegations in the construction of the Makati Science High School building. One day later, Binay stepped down as Mayor of Makati. Binay, together with 22 others, was charged by graft and falsification of documents cases by the Ombudsman filed before

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

on February 19, 2016, in connection with the construction of Makati City Hall Building II. 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 ...

, Binay ran against his sister, incumbent Mayor Abby Binay, under the Una Ang Makati local party. He chose Makati's 1st district representative Monsour del Rosario of

PDP–Laban The Partido Demokratiko Pilipino (PDP, ) is a populist political party in the Philippines founded in 1982. It was previously known as Partido Demokratiko Pilipino–Lakas ng Bayan (PDP–Laban) from 1983 to 2024 as a result of a merger with L ...

as his running mate for vice mayor. However, they were both unsuccessful, with Binay failing to regain the post. Binay is perpetually barred from holding office after the

on May 28, 2019, found him guilty of serious dishonesty, grave misconduct, and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service over irregularities in the construction of a Makati Science High School building. Binay's lawyers said they will appeal the decision. In December 2024, however, the

granted the

demurrer A demurrer is a pleading in a lawsuit that objects to or challenges a pleading filed by an opposing party. The word ''demur'' means "to object"; a ''demurrer'' is the document that makes the objection. Lawyers informally define a demurrer as a ...

and

acquitted In common law jurisdictions, an acquittal means that the criminal prosecution has failed to prove that the accused is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of the charge presented. It certifies that the accused is free from the charge of an o ...

Jejomar Binay, Binay Jr. and all the accused in the case.

Personal life

Binay was married to Kennely Ann Lacia (1980–2009), who was also known as former

ABS-CBN ABS-CBN is a leading Philippine media and content company. It serves as the flagship media brand of ABS-CBN Corporation, a subsidiary of Lopez Holdings Corporation. Once the country's largest free-to-air television network, ABS-CBN has since ...

talent Audrey Vizcara, until her death on August 11, 2009. They had four children: Jejomarie Alexi, Maria Isabel, Jejomar III, and Maria Kennely. His wife died due to complications while giving birth to their fourth child, who survived despite being born prematurely and was named Maria Kennely in memory of her mother. During his time as Mayor of Makati, he was romantically linked to Kris Aquino. Binay married his second wife Patricia Sandejas in 2023. They first met during the ribbon-cutting ceremony of Bistro Mondo, a restaurant co-owned by the Sandejas family in Poblacion, Makati, in 2011.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Binay, Jejomar Jr. 1977 births Jejomar Jr. Living people Filipino politicians convicted of crimes Mayors of Makati Partido Demokratiko Pilipino politicians United Nationalist Alliance politicians Makati City Council members University of the Philippines Diliman alumni Filipino Roman Catholics