Makati Mayor Jejomar Erwin Binay seen here with a guest at Noypitz Bar & Grill in Glendale, California in 2011 during a fundraising concert organized by members of Filipino-American media for typhoon Sendong victims. Photo: Benny Uy
MANILA (Mabuhay) – Cavite Gov. Jonvic Remulla on Thursday said Makati Mayor Junjun Binay, son of Vice-President Jejomar Binay, does not breed horses as claimed by former Makati Vice-Mayor Ernesto Mercado.
Remulla said the younger Binay breeds dogs for the Makati police.
“He breeds dogs. That’s his passion. He breeds dogs for the Makati police for the bomb disposal unit,” he said.
Mercado earlier claimed before the Senate Blue Ribbon subcommittee that the younger Binay owns a horse ranch inside a 350-hectare estate in Rosario, Batangas. He claimed Binay is into breeding horses along with Makati Administrator Jun Mendoza and a Makati councilor.
In the interview, Remulla denied Mercado’s claim that the Binays own the entire agricultural estate.
Instead, he confirmed that the Binays are leasing 9 hectares of the property since 1994.
The spokesman admitted that air coolers were installed in the Binay piggery not because Dra. Elenita Binay did not like the smell of pigs but because the lower temperature would increase the size of the pigs.
“If you look at the modern piggeries now, they are not airconditioned, they have air coolers. They lower the temperature because it aids the growth of the hogs but it is not an airconditioned facility and it is not meant to keep the flies away,” he said.
The spokesman said the vice-president sold his stake in a piggery in the Batangas property in 2010. However, Binay’s wife, former Makati Mayor Elenita Binay, continues to maintain a flower farm in the estate.
“It’s a legitimate business. It pays its taxes. Its stated income is in the [Bureau of Internal Revenue],” he said.(MNS)