The Vice's virtue

She has stood by her man through thick and thin, through his salad days and his feasts, through a military prison and Makati City Hall. Through it all, Elenita Sombillo Binay, an OB-Gynecologist, has remained steadfast and unwavering.

“Dra. Binay,” as she is fondly called, is the family’s pillar of strength, according to her eldest daughter Nancy.

“Her greatest contribution to Dad’s success is the family she raised,” Nancy says of her mother. “She made sure the children were well taken care of while Dad was away at work. So he really did not have to worry about us. We didn’t give him a headache. None of us turned out badly.” “Dad” is, of course, Vice President Jejomar “Jojo” Binay.

The former Elenita Sombillo was a resident training in O.B. Gynecology at the Jose Reyes Medical Center when she was introduced to human rights lawyer Jojo Binay, who was then handling a case against the hospital’s medical director. It wasn’t till a year later, however, during an anti-Marcos rally, that they met again. He called her “Evelyn” instead of “Elenita,” so she remembered him — albeit with a bit of irritation. Jojo made up for the slip, however, and they were married on July 4, 1972. A few months later, martial law was declared and Jojo was thrown into a military prison. Dra. Binay recalls that she was very pregnant with Nancy then and for about a month, she would visit him, bring him food and reading materials on the days she was not allowed to see him. She would knock on the doors of military officials at JAGO to expedite her husband’s release.

She supported herself, she recalls, by continuing her medical practice and by seeking some help from her parents from Bulacan, who were fairly well off. Her father, who encouraged her to take up Medicine, had a construction business.

Dra. Binay never discouraged her husband from pursuing his dreams, even if she knew then that he was not going to be an ordinary office worker. There would be barbed wires and prison bars in their lives, but she was going to be with him for the ride.

They had four of their five children before the EDSA Revolution in 1986 — Nancy, Abby (now Makati Representative), Junjun (now Makati Mayor) and Ann. Joanna would come into their lives later. They lived in Makati’s San Isidro District before moving to San Antonio Village, where they still live now — all five children, their spouses and 11 grandchildren.

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Vice President Jojo Binay, compared to his wife, had a difficult childhood. He lost his mother while he was just a boy, but not before she inspired him to seek higher education in order to achieve his dreams. “My mother was a teacher and she really got me very interested in current events,” the Vice recalls. “Even as a child, I already wanted to be part of history.” His father never remarried but died prematurely, too.

Relatives helped him get by, but the Vice sometimes had to do menial jobs to support himself.

Dra. Binay recalls that when they were newly married and he would accompany her to the wet market, the vendors would recognize him.

“Yun pala, nagbebenta siya ng kaning baboy noon,” Dra. Binay recalls. That’s why she is certain her husband will never abuse his power or be mean to others, especially to those who have less in life. “Hindi siya mang-aapi.”

The fearless Jojo of the Parliament of the streets was actually passive when it came to taking care of babies. Like most traditional fathers of the ‘70s and ‘80s, he let the missus do diaper duty during the midnight shift. But when his kids were toddlers already, he would take them along to the courthouse during his hearings, so very early on, they imbibed his passions.

Jojo and Elenita’s acceptance of their roles in life, and their respect for each other’s calling, is perhaps the secret of their 38-year-old marriage.

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Not that it has been smooth sailing all the way. Shortly before the May 2010 elections, news of then Mayor Binay’s alleged affair with a younger woman hit the front pages and primetime TV. At the time, Mayor Binay was closing in on frontrunner Sen. Mar Roxas and there were fears the expose on his alleged marital infidelity was the end of his vice presidential bid.

Jojo Binay admitted to the affair, but added it was over seven years ago. He said his wife had forgiven him. Elenita Binay stood by her man.

She admits now the incident deeply wounded her heart, and that it is still healing seven years later.

“I thought my marriage was perfect,” she confides. “I asked myself, ‘Why?’ I asked my husband, ‘Was it my fault? Did I lack in communication skills? Did I neglect my physical appearance’?”

Her husband assured her it wasn’t her fault, and that it was him who erred. To prove he was truly sorry, Mayor Binay agreed to undergo couple counseling under a Jesuit priest for many weeks. To Dra. Binay, that counseling session, kept under the radar, was a first step to her healing. “Few men, after all, agree to go through counseling, but Jojo did!”

“I stayed on because I wanted to keep my family intact,” she reveals. “I had to think of my children’s feelings.”

The petite but strong-willed Dra. Binay chose not only to fight for her marriage, but to look at that painful incident seven years ago as a “challenge.”

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Elenita Binay also had the painful task of consoling her only son Junjun when his wife Ken died during childbirth a year ago. She also helps him raise his four young children, the youngest of which has a delicate heart condition due to her premature birth.

At home, Elenita is almost compulsive about cleanliness. In her free time, she supervises the cleaning of the house and reveals that not too long ago, before her knee operation, she herself scrubbed her own bathroom. She also loves plants and decorating the home, arranging and re-arranging furniture constantly. She has a tasteful collection of Oriental antiques. “I am a frustrated interior decorator!” she laughs. Her latest “project,” she proudly reveals, was fixing up the Vice President’s office.

Vice President Binay admits that at first, Elenita, like many Filipinos, couldn’t believe that he was actually running for Vice President. “Totoo ba talaga ito?” he quotes her as saying in the beginning of the campaign, when his ratings at the surveys were not very encouraging. When she saw he was serious, she believed in his dreams even when others didn’t.

Mayor Junjun Binay says his mother, who was Makati mayor herself from 1998 to 2001, is an effective campaigner because she is naturally friendly and approachable. “In fact, she is easier to approach than my father,” says the only son. “But both of them like to be around people.”

Asked to describe his wife, the Vice President simply says, “Awesome!”

Elenita Binay wants to prioritize medical missions as the Vice’s wife. She also likes to be involved in projects that protect and beautify the environment, being a lover of plants.

But her main focus really, to this day, is her family. By taking care of her family, which now includes three public servants and four motherless children, Dr. Elenita Binay is serving the nation in her own “awesome” way.

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