By Rowena F. Caronan
In a Court of Appeals decision dated Jan. 29, 2015, Makati City Mayor Jejomar Erwin C. Binay Jr. has secured much more than parcels of land and revenue streams for Makati City. The seven barangays claimed by Pateros but ruled by the Appellate Court to belong to Makati City are home to 129,280 voters or about a third of the City’s 411,245 voters in the 2013 barangay elections.
Further, the voters in the disputed areas belong to Makati City’s second district, which the mayor’s sister Mar-Len Abigail S. Binay, has represented since 2007. The voters in the disputed barangays represent more than a majority, or 61 percent, of the district’s total voters. (Binay replaced former Senator Agapito “Butz” A. Aquino who represented the district from 1998 to 2007. Butz Aquino, uncle of President Benigno S. Aquino III, was the second district’s first congressman when it was created in 1998.)
The Court of Appeals slammed the claim of Pateros for its failure to forge an agreement with other claimants, including the cities of Taguig and Makati.
