oesn’t anyone find it a bit strange that the former mayor of Makati does not seem to have the backing of that city’s business community? Makati after all is the country’s premiere business district. Most major Philippine corporations are headquartered there. And for someone who has won election after election, whose wife also served as mayor, and whose son is the current mayor, the city’s business community seems totally disengaged from Vice President Jejomar Binay’s bid for the presidency as well as the myriad accusations of corruption currently being hurled against him.

One would think that the city’s favorite son, who ran it for decades as mayor would have the overwhelming support of the business titans who call Makati home. What we have instead is a deafening silence from a group that should be Binay’s loudest supporters.

What is going on? With all the allegations of corruption being hurled at Binay, one would expect that Makati’s business leaders would be the first to come to the defense of their former mayor. The Binays after all have been running Makati city since Cory Aquino appointed Jejomar in the late 1980s.

On the surface, it would appear that Makati’s business community has absolutely no debt or gratitude (utang na loob) towards Binay who ran it for decades.

Then again, maybe there’s a reason for the silence. Maybe the business community does not support Binay. Maybe there is some truth to the allegations of corruption being hurled at the former mayor. Maybe the Makati businessmen know things about the Binays that the rest of us don’t. Maybe they’ve decided that the best thing for them to do is to keep their mouths shut at this time.