Jejomar “Jojo” C. Binay is the 15th Vice President of the Republic of the Philippines. He concurrently serves as the chair of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC), Presidential Adviser on Overseas Filipino Workers’ (OFW) affairs, chairman emeritus of the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) and chairman of the Presidential Task Force Against Illegal Recruitment (PTFAIR).
A product of the Philippine public school system, he entered the Philippine Normal College (PNC) and University of the Philippines Preparatory High School (UP-Prep) for his primary and secondary education. He went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in political science, as well as a law degree, both from the University of the Philippines (UP). The Vice President also enrolled in master's programs in public administration and law in UP and University of Santo Tomas (UST), respectively.
While mayor of the City of Makati, Vice President Binay took up graduate studies at the National Defense College of the Philippines (NDCP), the Command and General Staff College (CGSC), the Joint Services Command Staff College (JSCSC), and the UP School of Urban and Regional Planning. He was senior executive fellow of the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University in 1992.
Vice President Binay serves as National President of the Boy Scouts of the Philippines. He was a Member of the Executive Committee from 2006 to 2009 and is the Chairman of the Asia-Pacific Regional Scout Committee of the World Organization of Scout Movement. He also held positions as Vice President for Membership from 2006 to 2008 of the United Cities and Local Governments - Asia Pacific Chapter, World Executive Committee of the International Union of Local Authorities-Asia Pacific.
The Vice President first served as Mayor of the City of Makati, the financial center of the Philippines, from 1986 to 1998. He was also appointed Governor of Metro Manila in 1987 and later elected chairman of the Metro Manila Authority (precursor to the MMDA) where he served from 1990 to 1992. In 1998, he was appointed chairman of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA).
In 2001, he reclaimed his post as mayor of Makati and served the full three terms, from 2001 to 2010, after which he ran for the second highest post in the country.
Vice President Binay is the recipient of numerous awards recognizing his distinguished service. In 2006, he was voted among the World’s Best Mayors, and received the CEO (Communication Excellence In Organizations) Excel Award given by the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC). He was also a People of the Year Awardee in 2008, which was conferred by People Asia magazine. In 2011, the University of the Philippines, the country's top university, bestowed on him its most prestigious citation, the University of the Philippines Alumni Association Distinguished Alumnus Award.
He is also a published author, counting among his works Rambotito, Basurero, Usisero, Atbp.; The Preparedness in Emergency Situation of Local Officials in Metro Manila, his dissertation in the National Defense College of the Philippines; The Emergency Preparedness of Local Government Officials in Metro Manila: A Management Assessment. Philippine Christian University (PCU) Thesis, 1997; Governance Matters (Selected Writings and Speeches), 2005 and Reinventing Makati (A Vision of VP Jejomar Binay), 2011.