Guest of Honor and Speaker’s Profile: Mayor Abby Binay

Mar-Len Abigail S. Binay is the second child of Vice-President Jejomar Binay and Doctor Elenita Sombillo Binay. She took her Elementary and High School in St. Scholastica’s College, Manila where her father was a faculty member. An undergraduate of U.P. Los Banos BS Human Ecology Major in Human Settlements Planning, she took a Juris Doctorate degree in the Ateneo School of Law in 2001.

After passing the Bar exams in 2001, Mayor Abby immediately applied her legal knowledge to defend the underprivileged, and became an active member of the Movement of Attorneys for Brotherhood, Integrity and Nationalism (MABINI) along with Atty. Rene Saguisag and Atty. Ed Araullo in doing pro bono work. She committed her first few years of practicing law in giving free legal assistance to indigents and even to some of the Oakwood mutineers in 2003.

This continuous desire to uplift the plight of the underprivileged inspired her to venture into the political arena during the 2007 congressional elections for the 2nd District of Makati City. She has since won overwhelmingly in the 2010 and 2013 polls and to her credit, has remained in the forefront of livelihood, job generation and medical assistance programs.

Mayor Abby’s political success is borne out of her own distinct brand of public service. She is known to be passionate about health care, particularly for senior citizens, mothers and special children who are deprived of accessible and affordable medical treatment. She is also a staunch advocate of good governance through programs that are transparent, efficient and innovative in approach and implementation.

As a legislator, she pushed for the law providing incentives for the manufacture, assembly, conversion and importation of electric, hybrid and other alternative fuel vehicles. She also co-authored the act increasing the ceiling for the total exclusion from gross income of 13th month pay and other benefits. Employees lauded her participation in the discussion and passage of the law excluding overtime pay from the computation of taxable income.

Aside from these, Mayor Abby rallied for pro-environment efforts within Makati through her waste management programs. She strongly believes in educating and in empowering the communities in order to help protect and preserve the environment.

Mayor Mar-Len Abigail Binay truly represents a new era in Makati’s leadership. She is progressive, pro-active and proudly, a visionary who believes that her Makati is and should always be, the Philippines’ premiere city.