Makati Rep. Binay wins condo in Rockwell raffle

(Updated 5:43 p.m.) Makati Rep. Mar-Len Abigail Binay can add another address to her Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth this year, after it was announced that she has won a condominium unit in a posh area in Pasig City.

The Power Plant Mall's Facebook page posted an image late Sunday night congratulating Binay “for winning a studio unit at The Grove by Rockwell.”

Binay, daughter of Vice President Jejomar Binay and brother of incumbent Makati mayor Junjun Binay, represent's Makati's second district in Congress.

According to the post, Binay won in a Christmas Raffle. A separate post on Lopez Link, the online newsletter of the Lopez Group of Companies in the Philippines, said every P2,500 receipt was equivalent to one raffle stub.

The Grove is a 5.4-hectare property with six towers in Pasig City. It is the first condominium development by Rockwell Land Corp. outside Makati.

Rockwell Land Corp. is owned by the family of the late industrialist Eugenio Lopez Sr.

Surprised

Sought for reaction, Rep. Binay said she was “shocked” when she learned that she won the raffle through a phone call.

“Noong una, akala ko prank call. Akala ko hindi totoo. Out of all the people na sumali sa raffle, ako pa [yung napili]. Nakakagulat siya,” she said.

The daughter of Vice President Jejomar Binay said she won a 32-square meter studio unit in Building C at The Grove in Rockwell. The property is worth an estimated P5 million.

Social media comments

Majority of comments on social media, however, expressed surprise and disbelief that Binay won the condo unit.

“Am I reading this right? Cong. Abby [sic] Binay won your grand raffle? As if they still need additional assets to their burgeoning wealth,” said Facebook user Mel Banico.

Another attributed Binay’s win to her capacity to drop many raffle stubs for the contest.

“Probably she really won it. I wonder how many raffle stubs she was able to accumulate,” one user said.

It was not the first time a government official has won in a contest. In 1990, then-National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) director Alfredo Lim won in a weekly lottery by the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office.

Lim, who went on to become senator and mayor of Manila, won at a time when he was investigating the PCSO for allegedly rigging the lottery.

An Associated Press report that time quoted Officials as saying that Lim bought a book of 80 tickets for his investigation. — Patricia Denise Chiu and Xianne Arcangel/KBK, GMA News