‘Binay, Never been a Proprietary Member of the Manila Polo Club’

Vice President Jejomar Binay has never been a proprietary member of the Manila Polo Club and has not received dividends from shares of stocks in the club, according to Joey Salgado, Office of the Vice President Media Affairs head.

In a statement released on Tuesday, Salgado said the vice president was an ‘Honorary Member’ of the club during his term as mayor of Makati. He added that this privilege is in keeping with the club’s by-laws where Section VI- Membership, Admission and Resignation- provides that “Honorary membership shall be accorded to the incumbent President of the Philippines and the incumbent Mayor of the City of Makati.”

“On its face, the letter from Urban Bank presented by Renato Bondal to the Senate sub-committee last week appears to be a marketing letter addressed to all members of the club, regardless of membership status,” he said in a statement.

Salgado added that if Senator Trillanes and Bondal can show proof that the Binay held actual shares and received dividends from the Polo Club, they are free to have them.

“But this is Bondal, after all. I hope we can still recall his admission that the P1,000 price tag on Makati’s birthday cakes for seniors was just a “guess.” And it was the good senator who encouraged Bondal to make such a statement before the sub-committee” Salgado said.