Meet the Binay Babes

Frustrated at being unable to help Filipinos abroad who are in trouble, Vice President Jejomar Binay of the Philippines proposed to President Noynoy Aquino the formation of a crack team of operatives whose members are expert in all kinds of weaponry and proficient in hand-to-hand combat; a unit that would be capable of extracting Filipinos abroad who are wrongfully imprisoned, Filipinos who are detained by an abusive employer, or being held hostage, in different parts of the world.

After consulting with his classmates in Ateneo, President Aquino agreed. Binay then arranged a secret meeting with his fraternity’s Inner Circle and asked them to assist him in looking for candidates.

Here are the results of the search.

Ladies and gentlemen, meet the Binay Babes:

Mayumi Dimapilas-Expert in stealth missions, hand-to-hand combat; inhumanly proficient in bladed weapons and firearms.

Born in the hinterlands of Mindanao, Mayumi was a lumad princess whose village was destroyed in a battle between Philippine government forces and Islamic separatists. Her father, the reigning Datu, along with his wives and all the members of their village, were killed. Mayumi was just five years old when her village was destroyed, and she was the only survivor. One of the rebels took pity on her, and brought the young Mayumi to his commander, Abdul Jakul Salsalani. The rebels fled to Basilan, bringing the girl with them. In Basilan, Mayumi was placed under the care of a legendary Tausug warrior, who was rumored to be a hundred and fifty years old. The famed warrior taught the girl everything he knew, making the girl an accomplished warrior/assassin by the time she reached puberty. When she was twenty, Mayumi learned that her family was actually killed in cold blood by the same Muslim commander who brought her to Basilan. Mayumi was devastated, because she came to regard the man as her surrogate father. She tracked Salsalani down to an island in Sulu, where the commander was holed up with his elite guards. Mayumi infiltrated the compound where Salsalani was hiding, killed about two dozen of the guards, and finally confronted the man who murdered her family. The commander it turned out had also been a student of the Tausug warrior. Both armed with a kris, the two engaged in single combat that lasted from dusk till dawn.  As the sun rose, Salsalani’s body was seen lying on the ground, bloodied and lifeless. Mayumi was kneeling beside the body, her kris on her lap. 
Pursued by the rest of the commander’s soldiers, she escaped to Manila, where she was approached by a mysterious man who claimed to be a fraternity brother of the Vice President and invited her to be one of the “Binay Babes.” 

She accepted.   

Alabama Cruz—Tech, gadget and explosives expert; sharpshooter.

Alabama is the daughter of an Army General. As an army brat, and an only child to boot, she grew up playing with guns; where other girls had Barbie Dolls, she had a Glock 17. At ten years old, she could hit a coin tossed into the air by her father, using her favorite pistol, the Glock. She had also shown an uncanny ability to master hi-tech gadgets and computers, which her doting father bought her. She also disarmed a bomb—even without prior training in bomb disposal—that was sent to their home by one of her father’s enemies. Realizing that her daughter was a prodigy, the General sent her abroad to study. Alabama earned a master’s degree in Computer Engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she graduated at the top of her class. She was also the captain of the MIT jujitsu and shooting team. During her stay at MIT, she met Rajiv Mahabharatbu, a 4^th generation Indian-American, and the two became lovers. Mahabharatbu turned out to be a CIA operative, and recruited Alabama.  The CIA quickly put her in a secret counter-terrorism unit that put her mastery of computers and technological wizardry to good use.  At her request, she also received extensive bomb disposal training, as well as explosive ordnance disposal, at Langley, Virginia. However, after a few years, she uncovered compelling evidence that her lover was a rogue agent, and was working for the highest bidder. Mahabharatbu got wind of her plan to turn him over to the CIA, and hatched a plot to kill Alabama. He rigged Alabama’s car with explosives. Unfortunately, her parents who were visiting her at the time, were killed instead. Alabama resigned from the CIA and hunted her lover, a manhunt that took her all over the world. She finally tracked down Mahabharatbu’s hideout in France, in a veritable fortress.

Alabama located Mahabharatbu on the top floor of the fortress-like structure.  She would have used a Barret M82 sniper rifle, but she didn't have one at the time.

Instead, she strapped explosives to a remote-controlled model airplane and used the toy as a guided missile to kill her lover.

Rajiv Mahabharatbu’s body was vaporized in the explosion. 

She returned to the Philippines, where her godfather introduced her to a mysterious Philippine government official who asked her if she would consider joining the Binay Babes.

She said yes.

Pedrita Pukaykay- Expert in sabotage, can operate anything mechanical (including all vehicles and machinery), expert grade in marksmanship and a master of FMA (Filipino Martial Arts); also has a supernatural ability to sense incoming danger.

Pedrita’s family, from Cebu, was a famous martial arts clan. She grew up in her father and grandfather’s dojo, where she started training at a very young age. She reached “Guro” (instructor) level before her sixteenth birthday. Pedrita also showed excellent mechanical aptitude.

She has a degree in mechanical engineering from the University of the Philippines, and is a graduate of the Philippine Military Academy. She held the rank of Lt. Colonel in the Philippine Air Force.

Her family’s  dojo, located in a compound where all members of the family lived (including her siblings’ spouses, their children and Pedrita's grandfather--the clan patriarch), where destroyed in a fire. Her entire family was wiped out, except for her grandfather, who was badly injured. 

Pedrita learned that her family’s rival martial arts clan was responsible for the deadly fire. Upon recovery, her grandfather revealed to Pedrita their clan’s secret, deadly technique, which is taught only to the next head of the Pukaykay clan. After training assiduously for a year, Pedrita went after her family’s rival clan, and killed all male members of the clan one by one, until only the clan’s head remained.  The man was more than a match for Pedrita, however. The fight took everything Pedrita had, until finally, she had no choice but to use the technique her grandfather taught her. The final blow was supposed to immobilize her opponent; but due to her relative inexperience in using the technique, what landed instead was a killing blow.

The man never knew what hit him.

Avenged, she then resigned from the Philippine Air Force.

A few months later, a representative from the Vice President’s office approached her and asked her if she is interested in joining the Binay Babes.  

Why not, she answered.

At present, the “Babes” are currently receiving additional training, and should be available for deployment a few months from now. 

*I was rooting around in my old files yesterday and found this; this was written three years ago.

 Anyway, there is still no sign of the Binay Babes. =) 

(tongue firmly in cheek)