ORPHANED at a young age, poor, worse still, diffident by nature and far from good looking,Jejomar ‘Jojo’ Binay was a nobody living in a tough part of Makati.But he was clever. He put himself through law school and became a visible critic of the Marcos regime by specializing in human rights cases, defending political detaineesgratis during Martial Law. In 1986 President ‘Cory’ Aquino appointed Binay as officer in charge of Makati pending elections in 1988, which he won by a landslide. It was his first taste of political power. He also protected Cory from the coup attempts that imperiled her administration and the fragile new democracy. He went about carrying an Uzi submachine gun. Previously without influential connections, he had now found his top-level patron in a grateful Cory.

P6-01-For-Long-View-column-LansdaleMagsaysay(1)Binay’s rise to the vice-presidency and his current presidential bid would be inspiring -- a hard-scrabble background, early pro-democratic leanings, a savvy intellect-- were it not so muddied by long-standing allegations of corruption and nepotism.

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