Nancy Binay vs Luis Campos for Makati City mayor: Battle between in-laws

MANILA, Philippines – Makati City is set to witness again a family feud for the ballot box in the upcoming 2025 elections.

Term-limited Senator Nancy Binay will be fighting against her brother-in-law, Makati 2nd District Representative Luis Campos, for the mayoral seat in Makati, one of the richest cities in the Philippines. 

Campos, the husband of outgoing Mayor Abby Binay, filed his certificate of candidacy on Saturday, October 5, under the Nationalist People’s Coalition. Nancy, meanwhile, filed her COC on Tuesday, October 1, under the United Nationalist Alliance.

Nancy’s mayoral bid was supported by his father, former vice president and Makati mayor Jejomar Binay.

Despite this, Nancy insisted that she and her sister Abby were not enemies. 

“We are still family, and being a family will always come first. For me, my sibling is not my enemy. There’s no Abby Binay on the ballot (for mayoral post), so we are not rivals,” an emotional and teary-eyed Nancy said.

The enemy-turned-ally

Campos has forged an alliance with Kid Peña, a former political enemy of the Binay family — particularly the patriarch, Jejomar. Peña is now running as Campos’s vice mayor. 

In their 2016 mayoral race, Abby locked horns with Peña. She narrowly defeated Peña, securing 160,320 votes to Peña’s 142,257.

Peña also had a bitter electoral battle with Jejomar in 2019, where he won the Makati congressional seat by just 5,806 votes. Jejomar contested the results and filed an electoral protest, claiming that machine failures and vote-buying swung the victory Peña’s way.

Nancy’s choice for vice mayor is former Makati representative Monsour del Rosario, who previously ran for senator under 1Sambayan in the 2022 elections. 

Family feud

This is not the first time the Binay family has faced internal competition for political power. In 2019, siblings Abby and Junjun squared off for the mayoral position. Abby won in that race.

During that election, Abby’s only family ally was her father, Jejomar, who ran for a congressional seat.

Meanwhile, Junjun had the support of the rest of the family, including their mother, former mayor Elenita Binay, and his sisters, Anne and Nancy. Despite the rift, Junjun still endorsed his father as his congressional candidate.

As Abby bids for a Senate seat, “Ate Nancy” has publicly expressed her support for her sister’s candidacy.

When Abby filed her COC, she was evasive in giving comments about the political rivalry involving her sister and husband in Makati.

Who will take Makati district seats?

The two district seats of Makati are up for grabs as the longtime congressmen of the city, Campos and Peña, are running for mayor and vice mayor, respectively. 

Among those eyeing a district seat is incumbent Vice Mayor Monique Lagdameo, who is concluding her third term. Lagdameo previously served as the 1st district’s congresswoman from 2010 to 2016.

In the 2nd district, Councilor Dennis Almario is facing off against former Councilor Vincent “Vince” Sese, who is running under Nancy’s ticket and the UNA party.

Makati’s 2nd district is now left with only three barangays: Guadalupe Nuevo, Guadalupe Viejo, and Pinagkaisahan. This comes after the Supreme Court ruled that the 10 Enlisted Men’s Barrios barangays are part of Taguig City.

Both Lagdameo and Almario are aligned with the Campos-Peña ticket.

Nancy’s slate has yet to announce a candidate for the 1st district of Makati as she considers Lagdameo qualified for the position. – Rappler.com