The movie press has found a soul mate in Makati Mayor Abby Binay who proved to be, well, “one of them” during a recent lunch get-together at Annabel’s restaurant. Abby talks showbiz, sprinkling her sentences with such showbiz lingo as wagas and syota, and sounds as showbiz as your controversial idol, not mincing a word and speaking with machine-gun rapidity. In short, she’s good copy. Showbiz na showbiz.
She dismisses suspicions that running against her brother, former Makati Mayor Junjun, in the 2019 mayoralty race is a brilliant PR strategy because in the long run, even if either of them loses to the other, it will still a Binay victory.
“Kung puedeng hindi maglaban…” she leaves that hanging, continuing, “what date is today…Oct. 23?...the election will be on May 13 next year and many things can happen between now and then.”
Mar-len Abigail Binay-Campos describes her foray into politics as destiny; it’s inevitable because she (and Junjun) were born into a family steeped in politics. The patriarch, Jojo Binay, served for three terms as Makati mayor before he became vice president, lost in the 2016 presidential race and is now running for congress; while the matriarch, Dr. Elenita Binay, also served as mayor of the same city.
From 2007 to 2016 when she ran for Makati mayor, Abby served as the city’s representative, replaced by her husband, Luis Campos.
There’s no “off the record” during the lunch and Abby answers every question, even the somewhat personal ones, with brutal frankness. Thirteen allies have abandoned Abby’s ship and she’s not sulking, explaining with a “good riddance” tone how she feels about it. Two of them are showbiz, Rico J. Puno (councilor) and reelectionist Rep. Monsour del Rosario.
“Rico has been sick and is now on a pacemaker,” says Abby. “So aanhin mo ang trabaho kung hindi ka makakapag-trabaho? He should attend more to his health. I don’t know if he can handle the stress. I wish him the best.”
And Monsour?
“We had a falling-out this year,” she reveals. “He wasn’t working at all; he was focused more on Taekwondo and his position in the sports commission. The Makati residents don’t feel his presence. Hindi siya madaling lapitan. For two years, wala siyang ginagawa. We talked last January. That was the time when we broke up,” adding with a laugh, “Ay, para naman kaming magsyota, hahaha!!!”
A movie writer asks, “Anong tingin mo kay Monsour?”
With a Makatizen Card-carrying senior citizen.
Abby answers without missing a beat, “Hindi ko siya tinitingnan,” laughing a bit before adding, “huwag na natin siyang pag-usapan baka sumikat” O, very showbiz, di ba?
The population of Makati is around one million, 600,000 of them are voters. But the number balloons to more than three million because of the “transients” (people who work but don’t live in the city). Abby can easily blend with the Makati masa for obvious reason.
“I am close to Bibeth (Orteza),” she notes. “We call each other cousins…you know, cousin-itim,” poking fun at the color of their skin. “Magkalapit ang birthdays namin, hers is Dec. 10 and mine is Dec. 12 (1975).”
She holds dear (reelectionist) Makati Councilor and party-mate Jhong Hilario (whose father, Virgilio Hilario Sr., has served the city in the same capacity).
“I cannot thank him enough for his loyalty,” admits Abby, “and his family, too. I’ll never forget him until I grow old. Hindi siya nagpadala sa pressure”… to, you know, “jump ship.”
Another movie writer, who mishears Abby, comments, “Hindi nagpadala sa presyo?”
“Hindi presyo,” Abby clarifies, “pressure. Walang presyo si Jhong.”
Then she talks about one of her favorite programs.
“More than 85,000 are card-carrying seniors,” says Abby who continues her dad and brother’s program for seniors (free movies, etc.). “They carry G-cash Makatizen Cards that entitle them to many privileges.”
You can call her a free spirit, an independent spirit.
“After high school,” recalls Abby, “I decided to enroll in UP Los Baños where some of my classmates were farmers and fishermen. I felt so at home with them. That was in 1997 when I started living away from my family. I stayed in our house in Los Baños while my (four) siblings lived in the family residence in Makati. My parents were asking me to return home but I refused, kasi hindi na ako sanay ng tinatanong kung anong oras ako uuwi, hahaha!!!”
From UP Los Baños, she took up Law at Ateneo.
“In Los Baños,” she points out, “walang pakialam kung anong suot mo. At Ateneo, medyo pa-porma. Extremes, di ba?”
But family is family. Sunday is strictly family day for the Binays when they have lunch at the family residence, Abby and Luis with their only daughter in tow. Abby and Junjun are civil toward each other.
“I just hope that during the campaign,” Abby wishes, “we won’t be saying things that we will regret later on. Sana we set aside personal differences and stick to issues and performance.”
Somebody says that the Binay story is pang-MMK (Maalaala Mo Kaya, Charo Santos-Concio’s long-running, award-winning drama anthology).
“Kulang ang isang episode,” laughs Abby. “Dapat teleserye, parang Dynasty.”
Watch for Kelvin Miranda, a swoon-worthy new Kapuso
Kelvin Miranda: A potential matinee idol from any angle
Mark the name: Kelvin Miranda, 18, predicted to be the next Kapuso to win the fans’ hearts. Slowly but surely, Kelvin has been attracting attention in GMA shows — as Raki the Bad Boy in Ang Forever Ko’y Ikaw; with Ivan Dorschner in MARS; Carlo the Nerd in Maynila (every Saturday morning); as Alfred Vargas’ younger brother in Kambal Karibal; as Gladys Reyes’ son Kim in Tadhana; as the young Gardo Versoza in Sirkus; and as Tom in Dear Uge; and as one of the boys in Bubble Gang.
He has also done a few movies: as a Networker in Star Cinema’s Vince & Kath & James; Guro with Akihiro Blanco; Haunted Forest with Jameson Blake, DonJuan Lucas, Maris Racal and Jane Oineza; Regal Films’ Walwal; and, soon, Class of 2018 (with Nash Aguas and Sharlene San Pedro).
Kelvin has won Netizen’s Best Choice Icons of Success Award and Best New Male TV Personality (by the PMPC Star Awards for TV).
(E-mail reactions at rickylophilstar@gmail.com. For more updates, photos and videos, visit www.philstar.com/funfare or follow me on Instagram @therealrickylo.)