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Muriel Korina Fernandez (Almazan)
Villar still refuses to attend the Senate to face questions, and it only reminds me of how GMA used the privilege of her office to avoid questioning. What will happen if Villar wins and more corruption scandals surface?
With Villar catching up to Noynoy in the polls, I am honestly quite terrified of the prospect of him winning. There is a clear case of graft in this instance, and instead of delving into the issues, his allies in the legislative are simply brushing off the allegations as “politically motivated.” As a citizen, we should not accept this. If there is smoke, we must see if there is a fire that needs to be put out. Yes, the timing of the allegations seem a bit off. (Joker Arroyo was pushing these issues as early as 1998.) A known crook and political opportunist, Juan Ponce Enrile, is the person leading the censure. However, when the facts are presented, it is clear as day that something is amiss. It just further builds on my strong suspicions that Villar is a businessman simply looking to control the political arena to make a boat load of money.
I have never trusted Villar since day one. I never trust businessmen who enter politics, because in the end, their core value is and always will be profit maximization. It is well documented that Villar's real estate empire ran into some serious financial problems when his overexposure to the real estate market and the Asian Financial Crisis made him unable to pay debts he took out to expand his real estate business in the early 1990s. After the Asian Crisis hit, Capitol Bank, owned by Villar and heavily exposed to his real estate investments was essentially ran to the ground and needed to be bailed out. In 2005, Villar tried to solve his debt problems by hiring a group of investment banks to advise him on how he can consolidate all his assets into one company (Vista Land). With the local and foreign investment bankers, Villar came up with a growth story for investors: “Invest in my company because we need it to fund all these wonderful projects!”
However, what was downplayed during the IPO roadshow was that instead of financing growth, resources from the offering would be used to finance his debt. To appease creditors, Villar even had his investment bankers pitch some form of a debt-to-equity conversion that raised skeptical eyebrows of many. In 2007, the IPO of Vista Land did not do as well as planned, in part because many investors and brokers were the same people who were burned by Villar’s inability to pay back his loans.
Now, as part of a corporate growth (or should I say corporate restructuring) plan, Villar is lusting for the highest position in the land. This scares me because Villar already has a track record of using his political position to gain the upper hand for his businesses. To save his empire and increase shareholder value of his business, Villar used his influence as Senate Finance Chair to shrewdly derail a Cavite road project that was supposed to be BUILD, OPERATE, and TRANSFER. Villar built a longer and more expensive road, the C-5 extension, adjacent to it; subsequently forcing the private investor in the initial project to pull out. The fishy thing is that this new road, longer and more expensive than the previously planned project, passed through all of Villar’s land in Cavite. It is a clear case of graft, pointing to Villar’s use of influence and government funds to substantially improve the values of his real estate properties. To add insult to
injury the right of way the government would have to pay in order to complete the project was substantially higher for the land that Villar owned. These funds could have easily been used to build needed schools.
This scandal should be a red flag for all voters. However, the scary part is that Villar is spending billions to keep this out of the picture as he continues his attempt to brainwash our masses that he is their savior. He convinces the masses that he is one of them; a poor boy from the slums of Tondo. In actuality, he is more like the 5-6 and syndicates, slum dwellers themselves who make a profit out of their poor brethren. Villar’s ad agencies are doing an excellent job of maintaining this image as well as doing damage control. TV and radio continues to churn out Parokya Ni Edgaresque jingles that compete with “Nobody, Nobody.” Dolphy is Villar’s new spokesperson and “Wowowee” is one giant ad for him. In this process of brainwashing, the masses are not cognizant of how Villar conducts business as a politician. What they do not see is a man hell bent on turning our archipelago into his own personal piece of real estate.
It is sad that the efforts of Juan Ponce Enrile, who is leading the censure for Villar, is actually giving Villar more sympathy votes. People do not trust Enrile, and when Enrile pounces on someone, it is usually met with a high degree of skepticism. I do not blame people for feeling this way. I also think Enrile is a crook who should be jailed for conspiring to implement Martial Law, for coup attempts, and for the human rights abuses during the Marcos regime. If someone with a more respectable reputation were to level these charges on Villar, I am sure the surveys would tell a different story.
I also fear from some credible reports that Malacañang has actually made a deal with Villar (under the table). Essentially, GMA’s goons said, “We will help you; in return, leave us alone when you win.” Villar’s behavior in recent forums further adds credence to these reports as Villar has been very tame and quiet when it comes to how he will treat GMA after the elections. Appealing to common sense, it makes all the sense for GMA to support someone who has a chance of winning, not a person rating at 4% in the surveys. GMA tried to reach out to Noynoy after Tita Cory died. All she got was rejection.
Who can stop Villar in his quest for the presidency?
I am known to be a Noynoy supporter, but to those skeptics and to those who are still undecided, I do concede that he is not perfect. His record as a politician is average and unspectacular at best. He does not have the charisma of his father. Before the death of his mother, he did not get much mileage. But I am going all out in support for Noynoy in 2010 because he stands for clean governance and appears willing to accomplish this. In addition, he has the best chance of preventing an opportunistic businessman, the assured next President of our country before Cory died, from using the Office of the President as a personal growth asset to his business empire.
Noynoy’s clean record is a big plus for me. It is a trait that I think should be the most important quality that we should look for in our next president. His appeal is that his track record is not tarnished by corruption scandals and his political debts are minimal. I know that many critics are trying to make an issue over his involvement in Hacienda Luisita, but Noynoy is not even heavily involved in the company. As a shareholder, Noynoy only owns .04% of Hacienda Luisita, a drop in the ocean and hardly in any position to do something about it. The case of the Hacienda does not have the substance that the C-5 extension controversy has a lot of.
In addition, Nonoy also has an incredible legacy to live up to. All the pressure is on him to be clean and stay clean. He can't afford to tarnish the Aquino name and the immense legacy that his parents left behind. Cory and Ninoy practically sacrificed their family for their dream of a better Philippines. For Noynoy, to know that your father and mother went through so much hardship to improve our country is a heavy burden to think about if you do decide to become a crook and destroy everything that they fought for.
We all have to make a choice. In my opinion, it has to go to the presidentiable who has an independent mind, stands up for what he believes in, is clean, and has the legacy of his parents to live up to and maintain. For me, Nonoy, with all his flaws, is that candidate. For what this country needs is a clean president who can set an example top-down for the entire state; it needs a president with the will to change things and stamp out corruption; it needs a President who can set an example and is willing to perfect our dysfunctional democracy.
I want someone who stands for being clean. He does not need a degree from Harvard. He does not need to have a multi-million peso business to show me he can make us all rich. He does not have to speak well. He just has to be clean. Nothing else should matter. He has to prioritize a platform of clean and effective governance and make sure that it delivers on that promise. Policies on the economy, education, energy, environment and health can all follow after the fundamentals are taken care of. So far, the only candidate who promotes my vision with a clean record to back it up is Noynoy.
Our urban landscape is replete with political slogans that attempt to convince people of certain candidate's ability to lead our nation
Galing at Talino? Sorry Gibo, those were the supposed qualities of GMA, rubber stamped with a PhD in Economics. And what happened? She only worsened our economy. To GMA's credit she did balance our budget at one point, but it has again ballooned to the level where the next president will have to deal with the same economic issues she faced in 2005. During GMA's watch, investment in infrastructure was insufficient, poverty incidence worsened, public education deteriorated, our nautical highway is still incomplete, goons like the Ampatuan's flourished in the south, and a culture of corruption flourished in our institutions. Instead of creating jobs, GMA focused on a policy of exporting labor without measuring the social costs of such a policy – thousands of broken OFW families and children of OFW's who do not have the proper parental supervision to teach them the differences between right and wrong. In effect, our next generation is left on their own to
figure out how to become empowered patriots who love their country and will fight to defend it. In effect, whatever statistics in GDP growth GMA and her allies love to advertise, none of it trickled down and benefitted the poor… and none of it accounts for the social costs to her policies.
Good speaker? Sorry Gibo, Marcos had that quality and he did nothing good for our country. In fact, Marcos squandered the opportunity to be our Lee Kuan Yew and Dr. Mahatir. If I want a good, charismatic, and eloquent speaker, let's just run down the list of effective public speakers and vote them in.
Para sa mahirap? Sorry Erap, you had your chance and failed miserably. Your only accomplishment is in convincing our masses that movie roles do not carry over into the political area.
My only concern with Noynoy is how deep he might be in the Liberal Party and whether he has accumulated political debts to Liberal trapos. The Liberal Party, like any party, has its own share of crooks (including those bandwagon trapos who jumped off GMA’s boat to ride on Aquino's popularity). How much will Nonoy have to give back to the Liberal trapos (and bandwagon Liberals who jumped GMA’s ship) if elected? We will never know. However, I am willing to live with that unanswered question if it means preventing someone like Villar from turning the Philippines into Vista Land’s next subdivision development. I am also reassured by the fact that he has that “Aquino” name and the ghosts of his parents to answer to if does decide to go down the immoral path.
Nonoy will not solve all our problems. One person can’t. But we need a start somewhere and it should be with someone who pushes honesty, reform, and good governance. It will be a tough battle, but I want to give Noynoy the chance to build on what his mother tried to accomplish. And I hope that if Noynoy wins, he will have the courage to make tough decisions and go after crooks, even if it means hurting a lot of friends and colleagues in government.
To give you a better sense on how Villar conducts business, here is also a link to Joker Arroyo’s 1998 privilege speech:
http://www.malayanghalalan.com/2010/01/26/joker-arroyo-raises-issue-of-accountability-of-public-officers-against-manny-villar
Actual notes scanned: http://www.scribd.com/doc/22789941/Joker-Arroyo-Privilege-Speech
Well, as the saying goes… “if it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, and looks like a duck…”
Vote wisely, Philippines. And continue to work towards uplifting the masses and freeing them from their state of hopelessness. Defend them from opportunists. DEVELOP THEM (FIRST) SPIRITUALLY AND BEHAVIORALLY; THEN ECONOMICALLY! When we lift up the poor and wean them off the mentality of hopelessness, our country will become first world. Only then will we have the powerful middle class that our young democracy is screaming for.
(Signed)
Winnie Monsod
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