10-07-2025
Abby Binay says sister Nancy out to smear her legacy amid Makati subway issue
Former Makati mayor Abby Binay-Campos expressed belief Thursday that her successor and sister, Mayor Nancy Binay, raised questions regarding the Makati Subway System project to undermine her legacy in the city.
Nancy, a former senator, has flagged a supposed "midnight settlement" that the previous city administration under Abby entered seven days before the end of its term. The deal obligated the city to pay P8.96 billion to the private partner Philippine InfraDev Holdings, Inc.
At a press conference on Thursday, Abby reiterated that the Makati City government has sufficient funds to pay the $160 million award that the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) may give in favor of Infradev without cutting benefits for residents.
"Talagang iniisip kong mabuti, ano bang mapapala kung ilalabas ito? Kasi kung tutuusin, puwede naman na i-withdraw nila 'yung settlement agreement na hindi nila kailangan ilabas because technically confidential nga 'yung negotiations. It is really para siraan ako," the former mayor said.
(I was really thinking, what could she benefit of publicizing it? They could've just withdrawn from the settlement agreement and no longer release it to the public because after all, the negotiations are technically confidential. It is really to defame me.)
"Bakit kailangan pang ilabas? I can only think of one thing: It is really to undermine my legacy, 'yung nine years na tinrabaho ko bilang mayor na maayos 'yung pagpapatakbo ko sa Makati. Other than that, 'yun lang 'yung naiisip ko," she added.
(Why does this information need to be publicized? I can only think of one thing: It is really to undermine my legacy, the nine years I worked as mayor and governed Makati well. Other than that, that's all I can think of.)
GMA News Online sought a comment from Mayor Nancy Binay, but she has yet to respond as of posting time.
Abby also hinted about possible political plans in 2028 as she told her sister through the same press conference: "Parating pa lang tayo sa exciting part. Mga three years, mag-antay siya."
(We're just getting to the exciting part. She has to wait for three years.)
In the 2025 midterm elections, Abby ran for the Senate but landed in 15th place outside the so-called Magic 12.
Nancy, meanwhile, won the mayoral race in Makati, after serving her second and final term as senator.
Mending fences
Asked for the chances of reconciliation among Binay family members, Abby said, "All in God's time. It's not something you can rush."
"It's not something that can be fixed overnight. It's something that will be fixed on its own. It has to be both parties, both need fixing. Hindi puwedeng ako lang ang mag-aayos kasi kailangan mag-ayos rin sila (It can't be just me doing the fixing, they should do the fixing, too)… God will be the one to say if it will be fixed, sad for me to say," she added.
The Makati Subway System, then envisioned to be a 10-kilometer subway from EDSA-Ayala to Ospital ng Makati, broke ground in 2018.
InfraDev and its Chinese partners Greenland Holdings Group, Jiangsu Provincial Construction Group Co. Ltd. Holdings Ltd., and China Harbour Engineering Company Ltd. were awarded the public-private partnership deal to undertake the Makati City Subway project by the Makati City government in 2019.
Construction activities, however, were halted in 2022 due to the Supreme Court ruling that placed the jurisdiction of several areas to Taguig City.
Following the ruling, Infradev said the Makati Subway System was rendered unviable, with the depot originally set to be located in Barangay Cembo. It also had a planned station in the University of Makati in West Rembo, and another one in Ospital ng Makati in Pembo. — VDV, GMA Integrated News
