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Questions Villar must answer

FRONTLINE
Ninez Cacho-Olivares

02/09/2010

Manny Villar makes much of his being poor, and of his no longer being a businessman from the time he joined the House of Representatives as a congressman, then Speaker, then senator, then Senate President, and after being ousted — as quoted by his now vice presidential candidate, Sen. Loren Legarda — due to his lack of leadership in the Senate.

In the sense that Villar may not have been personally present as a chief operating officer or chief executive officer of his and his wife’s various business concerns, he can state that he was no longer a businessman, although any which way it is cut, this is at best, a quarter truth.

It was precisely his having become a congressman and Speaker that his ethical conduct has been questioned, as he is accused of having used his power, position and influence with the Malacañang tenant, both during his tenure as congressman and senator, to his business’ advantage.

It is fact that even as a congressman, he stood accused of mainly the same issues and controversies related to his real estate deals that benefited his businesses, and that even as senator, finance committee chairman and Senate President, he engaged in the same ethical misconduct.

It is valid to ask: If he were no longer a businessman once he joined politics — as he claimed to have foresworn his business interests — why then was he still ensuring that certain projects that would be hugely beneficial to his businesses?

The answer is of course clear: Manny Villar never gave up his business interests. It is also on record, supported by documents, that he and his wife own their business interests. He had, in fact, ensured its fantastic growth through political power, position and influence as a politician. It is also on record that his businesses flopped at one time, and he couldn’t pay his debts to the bank and government agencies.

There are other valid questions that can be asked of candidate Villar: Had he not been a congressman and Speaker of the House of Representatives, as well as senator and Senate President, would he have succeeded in getting those government projects that were of benefit to his business interests — or properties — done?

Would Villar, even as a so-called “brown taipan” have been able to get the C-5 road project diverted, or for that matter, sold to the government his land for the right of way at a highly overpriced amount?

Could he have borrowed funds in the tens of millions from Pag-Ibig if he were not in politics and engaged in ethical misconduct precisely because all his moves made can be said to have been a conflict of interest issue?

Villar may have been a “brown taipan” as he claimed, but it can be established that before he joined politics, and gotten the position he wanted, his businesses were not in the same league as the other Chinese or mestizo taipans. It was only after he joined politics that his business interests soared, and when he became a billionaire.

As a presidential candidate, he claims to bleed for the poor and even promises the poor that he will solve all their poverty problems.

He says he knows how it is to be poor, because he comes from a poor family and has known poverty, having grown up in poverty. But this is not proof that he bleeds for the poor and that he can solve the problem of poverty.

In all the years as a “brown taipan,” did Villar, businessman, show anything by way of providing for the poor? Sure, his business had low-cost housing, but surely he knows that the poor can’t afford even low-cost housing. And who makes the money in these low-cost ventures, if not the businessman.

As a politician and a legislator, did he focus his bills on alleviating the poor’s conditions, or did his bills focus on making things easy for business, especially his businesses?

Were his projects that he pushed and influenced intended for the poor, or for the enrichment of the Villars and Aguilars?

These are the questions candidate Villar must answer.

Like Liberal Party presidential candidate Noynoy Aquino, it should be on the legislative record on which they must stand, if they claim they are pro-poor and promise the electorate the moon.

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