MANILA, Philippines – Makati City Mayor Abby Binay said the toughest aspect of her  reelection bid has been the “mudslinging” during the campaign, especially as it involved another member of her family.

Abby told reporters ahead of her miting de avance on Friday, May 10, that she and her Team Performance slate were looking forward to the end of the gruelling campaign for reelection, pitted against her own brother Jejomar Erwin “Junjun” Binay Jr and 3 other candidates.

Asked what to her had been the hardest part of the campaign so far, Abby said, “The mudslinging. I think it’s also difficult for my dad as well because our family is not together.”

The family patriarch, former vice president Jejomar Binay who was running for Makati congressman, had allowed an Abby-Junjun faceoff as long as they didn’t throw hurtful comments at each other – a condition the Binay siblings were not able to meet.

In April, Abby and Junjun had an ugly word war during a debate held inside a church, with Junjun caught on video mockingly bowing to his older sister.

The elder Binay is backing Abby, while Junjun’s bid to return to city hall is supported by their two other sisters, Anne and reelectionist Senator Nancy Binay. (READ: Emotional Abby Binay tells Makati: My dad joined my team because of you) 

Three days before the elections, however, Abby seems already sure of her victory, saying all pre-election surveys so far have shown a huge margin between her and Junjun. Abby also got the endorsement of the Iglesia ni Cristo, whose members tend to vote as a bloc.

“I think hindi ko pala puwedeng sabihing sobrang confident kasi sasabihin mayabang ‘di ba (I think I can’t say I’m very confident because they might think I’m arrogant, right)? All surveys indicate that there is a big margin. At the end of the day, it will depend on the voters’ turnout on Monday,” said Abby. 

“So we’re just hoping na sana ‘wag naman umulan sa Lunes, kasi ‘pag umulan sigurado tatamarin ‘yong tao bumoto. And secondly, sana maging malinis at tahimik ang magiging eleksyon sa Lunes,” she added.

(So we’re just hoping it wouldn’t rain on Monday, because if it does, for sure the people would get too lazy to vote. And secondly, I hope the elections on Monday would be clean and peaceful.)

Junjun and Nancy said they were willing to reconcile with Abby, but the latter believed that the crack caused by her clash with Junjun had gone so deep that the family feud would go on even after the elections.

Their father, however, hoped his warring children would reconcile. – Rappler.com