Mayor of Makati First and second stints (1986–1998) 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. He was later appointed as the
OIC governor of Metro Manila, serving from 1987 to 1988, when he resigned to focus on his mayoralty campaign in Makati. He was elected in his own right on January 18, 1988, and was reelected on May 11, 1992, and on May 8, 1995. 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. He became term-limited in 1998 and his position was kept by his wife
Elenita.
Third stint (2001–2010) in September 2009. Following the
May 14, 2001 election, 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. In 2004, he became the general campaign manager of
Fernando Poe Jr.'s unsuccessful
presidential bid. He won his fifth term on
May 10, 2004, by a large margin against 1st district councilor Oscar Ibay. He ran for his sixth and last term as mayor on
May 14, 2007, and won again by a significant margin beating incumbent senator and actor
Lito Lapid. His margin over Lapid was then considered as the largest margin in a local election in Makati. Refusing to cooperate with the suspension order, Binay barricaded himself inside the Makati City Hall. Among those who expressed support were former president
Corazon Aquino, actress
Susan Roces (widow of Fernando Poe Jr.), and several Catholic bishops. After a three-day stand-off, the
Court of Appeals issued a temporary restraining order. Before it lapsed, the court issued an injunction order, thereby preventing the Office of the President from enforcing its suspension order until the case was resolved. Binay – together with his wife, Elenita, and nine others – was vindicated by the courts in a graft case filed by the
Office of the Ombudsman over allegations of overpricing in the purchase of office furniture. Allegedly, he had irregular purchases worth from the years 1991–2006. The case was also filed by Brillante, who at that time was leading in Makati a Palace-supported signature campaign to amend the
Constitution. The
Sandiganbayan Third Division dismissed the graft case filed against him and his six co-accused for lack of factual basis even prior to Binay's arraignment. Critics claimed the suspension order was intended to distract attention from the government's own scandals. On May 2, 2007, the
Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) froze all bank accounts of the city government of Makati and the personal accounts of Mayor Binay and Vice Mayor Mercado. The BIR issued the order after it said the city still owed the BIR ₱1.1 billion in withholding taxes of city employees from 1999 to 2002. BIR revenue officer Roberto Baquiran signed and issued the warrant of garnishment against the bank accounts that belonged to Binay, Mercado, the city government and the city's treasurer and accountant. The city government protested the garnishment order, saying the city had already paid to the BIR as part of a settlement agreement agreed to by Finance Secretary
Margarito Teves and former BIR chief Jose Buñag. The city government also said the order was flawed since Baquiran had no authority to issue writs of garnishment and freezing the personal accounts of Binay and Mercado were also unlawful. Ordered by the
Court of Tax Appeals (CTA), Binay was made to pay the deficiency in taxes amounting to more than ₱1.1 billion to the BIR, in December 2009. The garnishment orders were eventually lifted by
Malacañang Palace, but not until after Binay slammed the move as politically motivated and patently illegal. Binay's camp claimed and accused President Arroyo of political harassment. Because of this, as per the DILG, a suspension order was served against Binay over alleged corruption. The latter said that the tax obligations were already settled between the BIR and the Makati city government. Barely a week before the local elections, the
Ombudsman suspended Binay based on allegations made by a local candidate allied with Malacañang; it would be revealed that the charges were supported by falsified statements. In a repeat of the October 2006 incident, heavily armed policemen barged into the city hall after office hours, forcibly opening the offices and occupying the building. Binay confronted police officials and representatives of the DILG, while hundreds of supporters once again swarmed the city hall quadrangle to show their support. The suspension order generated national media attention, and prompted even administration senatorial candidates to protest publicly, saying the action further undermined their chances in the elections. Despite the controversy of this tax liability issue, Binay still won the position of vice president in 2010 by a landslide victory.
Vice presidency (2010–2016) Binay initially announced his bid for the presidency for the
2010 elections during his 66th birthday celebration at the Makati City Hall on November 11, 2008, but abandoned his bid to give way to the comeback bid of former president
Joseph Estrada. He eventually became Estrada's running mate and ran under the banner of
PDP–Laban. Binay initially showed a relatively poor performance in public opinion polls, trailing behind senators
Loren Legarda and
Mar Roxas, but Binay's standings improved as the elections approached, overtaking Legarda and tying with Roxas in the final survey conducted. He went on to defeat Roxas in the election. During the campaign, a photo of Binay with his rumored mistress leaked online. Though he admitted to having an extramarital affair, Binay said that the leaked photo was part of "
black propaganda" against him, because of his high ratings in a vice presidential survey conducted prior to the leaking of the photo. The alleged "black propaganda" device had little to no effect on the campaign of Binay, who closed the gap of votes between him and leading vice presidential candidate, Mar Roxas, in a survey. Despite the issue, Binay won the election. Binay took his oath as vice president on June 30, 2010, becoming the first local government official to do so. He is also the oldest Filipino to be elected vice president at the age of 67 and the second overall after
Teofisto Guingona Jr., who, at age 72, was appointed vice president by Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Binay was appointed chairman of the Housing Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) by President
Noynoy Aquino, the same position held by his predecessor, Vice President
Noli de Castro, and Presidential Adviser for Overseas Filipino Workers (Presidential Adviser for OFW Concerns). During this time, Binay was assigned to lead "Task Force OFW", which helped
Overseas Filipino Workers who were maltreated by their employers to return to the Philippines with the assistance of the government.
Presidential campaign during the signing of a coalition agreement between the
United Nationalist Alliance and
Partido Magdalo. Initially, Binay polled highly among expected presidential candidates for the
2016 Philippine general election. However, in a Pulse Asia survey released in September 2015, he placed third after senators Grace Poe and Mar Roxas, the latter of whom was the ruling Liberal Party's presidential candidate. Binay's trust rating had also dropped by 18%. Speculation as to who Binay's running mate for 2016 saw fingers pointed in many directions, including the likes of
PLDT Chairman
Manuel V. Pangilinan, Senator
Jinggoy Estrada, Rep.
Manny Pacquiao,
Nacionalista Party President
Manny Villar, and Batangas Governor
Vilma Santos. However, his running mate was later revealed to be Senator
Gringo Honasan, who was also the vice president of the United Nationalist Alliance.
Platform Binay disclosed his platform for his 2016 presidential bid during his speech to the
Integrated Bar of the Philippines in
Cebu City on March 20, 2015. He aimed to improve the situation in state colleges and universities, public health hospitals and clinics, police stations, and mass housing. He also promised an increase in both salaries and benefits of public school teachers and health workers, members of the police force, and other public servants. As part of his plans, he included a redesigning and re-engineering of the transportation system of the country, as well as prioritizing the building of more infrastructure and the creation of more jobs. He proposed to change the constitution to boost the economy, and speed up the country's development. In early July of the same year, Binay expressed UNA's (his party list) platform for 2016 in a speech:Ang sigaw ng UNA at ng taumbayan sawa na tayo sa kahirapan, sawa na tayo sa kawalan ng hanapbuhay, sawa na tayo sa kriminalidad at ilegal na droga. Sawa na tayo sa kakulangan ng basic services... hirap na tayo sa manhid at palpak na pamahalaan,What UNA and the citizens are expressing is that we're tired of poverty, we're tired of unemployment, we're tired of criminals and illegal drugs. We're tired of the lack of basic services...we're struggling under a numb and failed government, == Post-vice presidency (2016–present) ==