Unworthy candidate/s

As “Senators of the Republic” they are supposed to be beholden to no one but the Filipino people. But at the last session day in the Senate, eleven of them revealed to the entire nation that they are beholden to only one person. We saw them serving the best interest of their colleague Manuel Villar more than the best interest of the country by their intentional and deliberate absence on the Senate floor to prevent the convening of the body for lack of quorum. They did it on purpose so that the Senate could not pass upon the resolution censuring Villar for his shady C-5 transaction. They indeed succeeded in protecting their idol from possible censure for conflict of interest but in the process, they prevented the Senate from performing its legislative function of passing other measures. After that disgusting display of dereliction of duty, more people are now convinced that they should heed the call made by one of their ilk “Senator” Santiago”, for them to all resign because they don’t deserve to be Senators.

By their words and actions, Villar and his cohorts just confirm that there is some truth to the Senate Committee Report finding him guilty of having conflict of interest in the C-5 extension project. When Villar finally appeared in the Senate and faced his colleagues, he spoke more about himself, than about the falsity of the report. He and his gang in the Senate merely criticized the report as being politically motivated, filthy and baseless, without however disputing or disproving the evidence supporting it with more solid and credible evidence.

The undeniable and incontrovertible facts are: (1) there is already an ongoing toll road project known as Manila-Cavite Toll Extension Project (MCTEP) linking SLEX and C-5 to the coastal road that would provide motorists an alternative to the existing toll free road network allowing them to move from coastal road to SLEX or vice versa; (2) Villar however still conceived and initially funded a third alternative route which is C-5 extension project and the Las-Piñas Parañaque link road project (CX5/LPPLP) which is longer in design so that it will pass through 50-52 hectares of subdivisions owned by his corporations; (3) the lots acquired from the Villar companies for the road right of way were priced at P11,520/sq.m. and those acquired from companies in joint venture with Villar were acquired for P7,168/sq.m while those acquired from other private owners were priced only at P2,922.

This second alternative route conceived and initiated by Villar caused that controversial insertion in the budget to cover the additional expense. The MCTEP was on a Build Operate and Transfer (BOT) scheme which is less expensive for the government as cost of road construction will be shouldered by the contractor and only the expenses for the expropriation of the lands for the road right of way will be funded by the government. But with new route, both the road construction and the payment of the cost of the road right of way to private owners especially Villar companies are funded by the government.

Obviously, the government will be spending more for a project that is not absolutely necessary. In so doing, former Senate President now Senator Villar has benefitted from it through his corporations. The government also stands to lose its investment in the MCTEP toll road BOT project which will be rendered less viable or no longer viable because of another toll free road extension project initiated by Villar.

Every right thinking individual will readily see that something is really wrong here from the moral and even legal point of view. Villar and his Senate gang-mates cannot just shrug it off as another political move of his opponents in the presidential race. Of course it is a political move, but is it true? Based on the uncontroverted documents and positive testimonies, it is.

I can count with one finger the Senators whom I still hold in high esteem in the present Senate and who fit the description of being “honorable”. One of them is Joker Arroyo. When he was still a Congressman representing Makati, he already raised this ethical issue against Villar who was then Speaker of the Lower House. Arroyo correctly pointed out to Villar that if he wants to continue in business and deal with government he can do so but he should not continue to be Congressman. If he wants to be a Congressman then he must not be in business which deals with the government. It is thus so disgusting and quite perplexing to see Arroyo make a complete somersault and defend Villar now on the very same issue. Manny must really be so convincing for Joker to make a complete turn-around. But I still refuse to believe that this convincing factor refers to Manny’s seemingly unlimited supply of commodity denominated by a term synonymous to his name.

Villar really seems to have an unlimited supply of money and there is more from where it comes. Nobody really knows whether it comes from his own pocket or from other sources. One thing is clear however. A good businessman as he pictures himself to be does not spend so much of his own funds without expecting something bigger in return. Either that or he may have other unlimited source that is supporting him to protect its interest because he appears to have the best chances of overtaking the leading presidential contender, Noynoy Aquino. And this is where the charge that he is Malacañang’s candidate gets it credibility and validity.

There is really some striking similarity in the spending pattern of Villar and the present Malacañang occupant. A close watch of his infomercials shows that he has a minimum of 40 TV spots a day for the past five months. Roughly, that already cost about P1.5 billion. The alarming part here is that the infomercials seem to be working well in deceiving so many people who cannot easily distinguish between fact and fiction. Pulling out all stops in campaign spending is proof of Villar’s obsession to win the presidency at any cost. And one of the main reasons for this obsession is obviously to prevent further investigation into his involvement in the shady C-5 extension deal. At the same time he will also be protecting his secret supporter from future charges.

At this stage therefore the timely warning for the people is not to vote for a candidate who is already involved in anomalies even before becoming President. There are many in the list. Hindi natin pwedeng ipagkatiwala ang kinabukasan ng ating mga anak at apo sa kanila. And Villar is obviously one of them as shown by the incontrovertible facts in the C-5 extension project.