“This is a man who wants to be our president and he has no sense or idea of accountability? What sort of President will he be?”
by Ducky Paredes
After too long a wait, Sen. Manny Villar finally made an appearance at the Senate to defend himself. Why he took this long to refute the allegations against his person he did not explain.
Considering the context of his privilege speech, he could have made it much earlier, even months ago, since there was really nothing new in his offered defense.
At the start of his speech, Villar made a point of stressing the success of his real estate companies owning 60 million square meters, which he grew (phenomenally) from a one-truck gravel and sand business. Certainly, a great feat. In business circles, Manny informed his colleagues, he is known as “the brown taipan.”
Actually, no one is questioning the extent of his wealth or even how he got so rich — that is a given; besides, he does not hide it. For instance, his expenses for advertising placements in his present campaign, according to media people, total easily P16 million a day topping what commercial companies – Unilever, Coca-cola etc. – spend on media placements!
What the Filipino people want to know is whether, as alleged, Manny Villar made himself even richer through questionable transactions like the “C5 double insertion” as alleged by some of his peers in the Senate. Also, did he violate the constitution by not divesting himself of businesses that had dealings with government?
What turned me off the most about Villar’s too brief Senate appearance was not the fact that he only spoke in vague generalities but the way he hurriedly left the premises after presenting his side of the issue. This is a man who wants to be our president and he has no sense or idea of accountability? What sort of President will he be?
If he has neither the willingness nor the inclination to face his fellow senators and answer follow-up questions, what chance does Juan de la Cruz have of getting any explanations from him on anything, if and when Villar does become president? Is this the lesson he wants to teach those children appearing in his commercials? Just say, “I didn’t do it!” and disappear!
Of course, Villar and his supporters claim that the reason he initially refused to make an appearance before the Senate – as well as the motive behind his hasty exit – is that everything they say against him is just “politically motivated character assassination”, and that the “Senate is not the proper venue” to answer these allegations.
Wrong! First, you are an elected official who is now seeking the country’s highest post. Why should you be put off that things are “politically motivated”? If you can’t stand the heat, as they say, get out of the kitchen. If you will run away at the slightest sign of opposition, maybe you should never have tossed your hat in the ring. Also, how good a president would you make if you do not feel any accountability for things that you have done? What sort of President would be someone who will not explain himself? The main job of a president may well be that of explaining himself to us and explain what he is doing and what is happening.
Second, when he was Senate President, the Senate was hot as hell for Gloria Arroyo and her cohorts for similar allegations of corruption. Why, when it involved for others, didn’t Manny consider then that “the Senate floor is not the right venue”?
Villar’s actions run entirely contrary to what “accountability” stands for. Is this an indication of what we can expect from a Villar presidency? How different would he be from the present President who forbids her cabinet from answering questions from the Senate and the House? Will he have regular open press conferences or will many different spokespersons do this job by answering the public’s questions on their own, without any direct instructions from the President, and are, thus, conveniently, thoroughly deniable?
If Villar does decide to return to the Senate a second time, or face the media for an intensive, no-time-limit Q&A forum on the subject matter, I have a few very simple questions:
Villar and his defenders point out that the MCTEP is a toll road, which requires payment of toll fees; while the C5 Road Extension is a public road, which allows free passage to all commuters. Okay.
But, even then, wouldn’t the government have saved millions if it built the second road project on a straight line rather than as a circuitous route?
Given that the government already purchased the tracts of land encompassed within MCTEP, wouldn’t it have made more sense to build roads along this highway, or directly parallel to it? This was the model used in building the SLEX; why deviate from it?
If Villar’s properties were already known to be “commercial” (and, thus, more expensive) why was the second road project made to pass through them? It’s not as if there were no other choices; “non-commercial” properties were available, and would have resulted in a straighter, more efficient passage at a lower cost to build!
But, what really disturbs about his cameo performance in the Senate is what it reveals about Manny Villar’s character. He brooks no opposition and will have his way, no matter what. How different would a Villar presidency be from the present dispensation, when Gloria and Manny (especially after he walked out of the Senate in a huff) seem like peas from the same pod?
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“It’s time to fundamentally change the way that we do business in Washington. To help build a new foundation for the 21st century, we need to reform our government so that it is more efficient, more transparent, and more creative. That will demand new thinking and a new sense of responsibility for every dollar that is spent.” — Barack Obama
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hvp 02.04.10
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