MANILA – The former president of the Philippine Senate is under fire for allegedly working for the realignment of funds for a major road extension project so it could pass through his vast real estate properties in southern Metro Manila and thus increase their worth and selling price.
In a resolution, 12 senators agreed they found credence and substance in the ethics complaint filed by a colleague against former Senate president Manuel Villar who allegedly worked for the double funding and diversion of the equivalent of $4 million for the C-5 road project in suburban Paranaque City, Metro Manila.
With the resolution, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile said the next step is for the chamber to conduct “adjudicatory hearings” or public trial for Villar to determine whether or not he should be penalized.
If found guilty, Enrile said Villar may face a range of penalties, the lightest of which could be an admonition or censure. The highest penalty, he added, could be expulsion from the Senate for a member embroiled in an ethics complaint.
But Enrile pointed out that at this point, the Senate proceedings are still in the preliminary stage and compared it to the filing of charges at the prosecutor’s level in criminal proceedings.
“There is no finding of guilt or innocence at this stage,” said Enrile, a lawyer who served as secretary of justice and defense minister during the strongman rule of the late president Ferdinand Marcos. “We are just making a probable cause to enable the calling of a hearing to receive evidence formally that will be offered by the complainant and hopefully, the evidence offered by the respondent (Villar).”
The complaint was filed by Senator Jamby Madrigal who alleged that Villar, as then Senate president, caused the realignment of funds for the C-5 road extension project to benefit the properties registered in the names of the corporations owned and controlled by Villar and his family.
Villar and his wife, Congresswoman Cynthia Villar, are considered the richest members of the Senate and the House of Representatives, with their wealth derived mainly from their real estate businesses, including high-end and low-cost housing.
Earlier, the complaint was referred to the Senate Committee on Ethics, chaired by opposition Senator Panfilo Lacson.
But a walkout by Villar supporters from the hearings resulted in the decision of all the 23 members to constitute themselves into a Committee of the Whole, with Enrile presiding, to tackle the complaint.
Still Villar and his supporters continued to snub the hearings as they accused the Committee of the Whole as a “kangaroo court” which is out to embarrass Villar and derail his presidential bid in the May 2010 elections.
Villar, who said he is running for president as the standard bearer of the Nacionalista (Nationalist) Party, said that among those who voted for the resolution were his potential rivals in the 2010 polls, such as Senators Mar Roxas 2nd, Loren Legarda, Francis Escudero and Richard Gordon.
In this light, Villar argued the Senate move merely confirms his belief that he will not get a fair trial from his colleagues, particularly those harboring presidential ambitions.
Villar’s supporters also said they plan to petition the Supreme Court to issue an order and stop the Senate from proceeding with the investigation.
But Roxas and Gordon, for their part, countered they want to give Villar due process and enough time to explain his side and present evidence to disprove the accusation against him.
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