“If I only want to enrich myself further, I will just go back to business,” declares Senator Manuel Villar in a TV commercial promoting his bid for the presidency. A recent article by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism’s Malou Mangahas points out that Mr. Villar’s net worth, as declared by him in his statements of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN), had increased fourteen-fold from 75.43 million pesos at the end of 1992 (his first year as a congressman) to 1.05 billion pesos in 2007 when he has reelected to the Senate.
With such impressive gains in his personal net worth, who will believe Mr. Villar’s claim?
This question is being posed, especially in light of certain revelations that raise serious questions about the manner in which Mr. Villar has conducted himself in public office.
In a privilege speech delivered in the House on August 17, 1998, then Makati Rep. (now Senator) Joker Arroyo outlined specific charges against Mr. Villar and called for a congressional investigation.
First, he said, companies owned by Mr. Villar “were given financial accommodations by government banks or financial institutions, among them, PAG-IBIG and the National Home Mortgage Finance Corporation among others, during (his tenure) as Representative from 1992 to 1998 to finance their business purposes.”
This was, he claimed, was in violation of Article XI of the Constitution entitled “Accountability of Public Officers” which proscribes in Section 16 that:
“No loan, guaranty, or other form of financial accommodation for any business purpose may be granted, directly or indirectly, by any government or controlled bank or financial institution to the President, the Vice President, the Members of the Cabinet, the Congress, the Supreme Court, and the Constitutional Commission, the Ombudsman, or to any firm or entity in which they have controlling interest, during their term.”
A second charge made by Mr. Arroyo against Mr. Villar is his alleged violation of another law, Republic Act No. 6713 known as the “Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials” that states in Section 9:
“Divestment. – A public official or employee should avoid conflicts of interest at all times. When a conflict of interest arises, he shall resign from his position in any private business enterprise within thirty (30) days from his assumption of office and/or divest himself of his shareholdings or interest within sixty (60) days from such assumption. .”
Mr. Arroyo observed then that Mr. Villar was “in no hurry to divest because he has declared that he is under no obligation to do so.” In defending himself on the C-5 issue before his Senate colleagues last Feb. 3, Mr. Villar cited an opinion of then Justice Secretary Serafin Cuevas that “there was no conflict of interest.”
But the conflict of interest is evident: remaining involved in businesses that obtain favorable treatment from government agencies.
A third charge hurled by Mr. Arroyo is that a Villar-owned and controlled institution, Capitol Development Bank “received loans, financial accommodations and guarantees from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas from 1992 to 1998 while he was a Representative.” That is, according to him, constitutionally forbidden.
Another major charge hurled by Mr. Arroyo is that legislation introduced or co-authored by then Rep. Villar from 1992 to 1998 were designed to benefit his business, a violation of the Anti-Graft Law. He cited the third paragraph of Section 6 thereof, as follows:
“It shall likewise be unlawful for such member of Congress or other public officer, who, having such interest prior to the approval of such law or resolution authored or recommended by him, continues for thirty days after such approval to retain such interest.”
What are these laws that favored Mr. Villar’s businesses? To substantiate his charge, Mr. Arroyo cited the propaganda kit for the Villar speakership bid in 1998 that included documents entitled “Manny B. Villar, Jr., Achiever and Visionary Leader,” and the “Legislative Performance of Congressman Manny B. Villar, Jr.” Mr. Arroyo pointed out: “Representative Villar unequivocally said that he ‘incorporated in the landmark Comprehensive and Integrated Shelter Finance Act, Republic Act No. 7835, the recapitalization of the National Home Mortgage and Finance Corporation and the amendment to the Agri-Agra Law to include housing investment.’”
The shelter finance act, according to Mr. Arroyo, “mandates “banks to extend to housing loans not utilized for agriculture and agrarian reform credit.” In other words, he asserted, “loanable funds for agriculture and agrarian credit are to be re-channeled to housing, Speaker Villar’s business.”
Representative Villar co-authored H.B. No. 11005 which “increased the capital of the National Home Mortgage and Finance Corporation” and is the main source of funding of Speaker Villar’s companies.
Mr. Arroyo even recounted a specific anecdote to buttress this claim:
“President Estrada admitted that the National Home Mortgage and Finance Corporation is presently bankrupt. He said that to the following: LAMP President Edgardo Angara, Congressman Agapito Aquino, Presidential Legislative Liaison Officer Jimmy Policarpio, former Congressman Miguel Romero and myself. The President no less said that it is bankrupt. Increasing the capitalization of a bankrupt GFI benefited Representative Villar’s housing companies.”
Finally, according, too, to Mr. Arroyo: “In the same propaganda kit of Speaker Villar, it states that ‘also passed by the House were Villar’s measures to make Pag-ibig Fund contributions compulsory and to increase housing investments with the SSS.’ Pag-ibig is a main source of funding of Speaker Villar’s companies.”
Antonio Hidalgo, who served as Secretary General of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) during the Ramos administration, corroborates Mr. Arroyo’s comprehensive narrative.
If there were a Truth in Advertising act in this country, Mr. Villar would be compelled to pull out his advertisement, or come up with a new one where he asserts that, indeed, “Those who are smarter than others end up richer.”
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