Makati mayoralty bets lock horns on campaign materials issue

Sen. Nancy Binay is running for Makati City mayor

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Nancy Binay, who is running for Makati City mayor, accused the camp of her opponent, Makati 2nd district Rep. Luis Campos, of ordering village officials to post campaign materials in the city, an allegation he vehemently denied.

In a video she posted on her Facebook page on Monday night, Binay was seen confronting the officials of Barangay Pinagkaisahan for allegedly disseminating and keeping the campaign materials of Campos in their village hall.

An official could be heard saying that it was only stored in their premises, which Binay still deemed to be unacceptable.

In a Facebook post on Monday night, Campos explained that “the campaign materials were not hung anywhere in the barangay hall.”

“They were folded and properly stacked on a table so that any resident who wanted to hang them in their house could take one,” Campos said in Filipino. “It is evident in the video that her ally had to carefully tear open the folded tarpaulin to see what was placed on it since it was not exposed.”

Campos is the husband of Sen. Binay’s sister, outgoing Mayor Abby Binay, who is now a senatorial candidate.

Binay threatens raps

In the same video, Sen. Binay said she would file charges against those responsible for what she said was a violation of election laws.

“Using MAC (Makati Action Center) to spread campaign materials is a clear election violation and abuse of government resources!” she said in the video’s caption in Filipino.

However, Campos said that the Civil Service Commission, through Memorandum Circular No. 4, s. 2025, dated 11 April 2025, clarified that elected Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) officials are not covered by the prohibition from engaging in partisan political activities during the campaign period, which only applies to government officials and employees.

“She must accept that incumbent barangay and SK officials have the freedom to act in support of their preferred candidates, and she has no right to stop them and lecture them,” Campos said.

Last month, Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman George Erwin Garcia said that while barangay and SK officials are allowed to join partisan political activities like campaigning, it should not be during their working hours.

READ: Garcia to barangay execs: Join campaign but not during working hours

Binay questions 2nd district voters

On Oct. 14, 2024, the United Nationalists Alliance, a party led by Binay, questioned before the Comelec the validity of the qualifications of 3,000 registrants in the 2nd district and 79 more in the 1st district, who transferred from Makati to Taguig.

Makati’s 2nd district is the bailiwick of Campos.

READ: 38 voters with 1 address? Over 3,000 registrants in Makati district flagged

Garcia said many of the irregular transferees from Taguig to Makati said they made the move to continuously receive services from Makati.

This issue was borne out of the 2022 Supreme Court decision, which ordered the transfer of 10 “embo” villages to Taguig.

READ: DILG to investigate bogus issuance of barangay certifications