Villar hits smear drive vs PPC bets

Former Speaker Manuel Villar Jr. accused the opposition Puwersa ng Masa yesterday of launching a smear campaign against senatorial candidates of the ruling People Power Coalition (PPC).

Villar told a news conference that a demolition job has been mounted against him and Makati Rep. Joker Arroyo in particular.

He said upon the instigation of allies and candidates of ousted President Joseph Estrada, some quarters have raked up old stories of supposed housing loan irregularities involving Camella and Palmera Homes and the other housing companies which he founded.

"I am proud to say that none of these companies borrowed from or owe a single centavo to the government, nor were they involved in irregularities. These companies were able to provide for the housing needs of thousands of low-income earners," he said.

Villar said the buyers of housing units were the ones who borrowed loans from government agencies, and that his firms served as the developers and builders.

"Any suggestion of irregularity on the part of these companies betrays a lack of understanding of the processes in acquiring a housing loan," he added.

Villar pointed out that if loan applicants who bought their housing units from his firms presented fake documents, they should be investigated.

"And if there is involvement on the part of my people in any irregularity, they must be prosecuted. I will certainly not tolerate any wrongdoing on their part," he added.

He said a smear job has also been launched against Arroyo, whose personal life has been questioned.

Villar and Arroyo are among the PPC candidates who have consistently landed in the winning circle of 13 in previous surveys conducted by the Social Weather Stations and Pulse Asia.

Another PPC senatorial candidate, Rep. Ernesto Herrera (Lakas, Bohol), urged Estrada to stop promoting a class war among Filipinos.

"If he knows what is good for the country, Estrada should stop this charade about a class war. What happened in Davao City recently might just be a portent of things to come," he said.

PPC officials claimed that goons hired by the Estrada camp pelted administration candidates with rocks and water bottles when the coalition held a campaign rally in Davao City last weekend.

Herrera said the ousted president started peddling the class-struggle line before his impeachment trial last year.

Estrada portrayed the efforts to remove him from office for corruption and plunder as the initiative of the elite which must be resisted by his masa, he said.

"It didn’t work and it won’t. Our people will see through this ploy, and they won’t support a president ousted for corruption and the candidates allied with him," he added.