"Villar intervened in C-5 project for his own benefit"

[roderick_m]

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‘Villar intervened in C-5 project for his own benefit’

AMITA O. LEGASPI, GMANews.TV
01/25/2010 | 06:16 PM



Senator Manuel Villar Jr. exerted his influence on the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) so that his properties would benefit from the alleged realignment of the controversial C-5 Road Extension in Parañaque and Las Piñas cities.

This is according to the report of the Senate committee of the whole seeking Villar’s censure for allegedly earning billions in the government’s C-5 road extension project.

The report, which was read by Senator Juan Ponce Enrile on Monday, said that Villar violated Section 14, Article VI of the Constitution for intervening in the project of the DPWH for his own pecuniary benefit.

“Senator Villar also became directly or indirectly interested financially in such contracts between his corporations and the DPWH, hence violating Section 14, Article VI of the Constitution," a portion of the report read.

The constitutional provision states that a senator or congressman should not be “directly or indirectly, be interested financially in any contract with, or in any franchise or special privilege granted by the Government, or any subdivision, agency, or instrumentality thereof, including any government-owned or controlled corporation, or its subsidiary, during his term of office."

“He shall not intervene in any matter before any office of the Government for his pecuniary benefit or where he may be called upon to act on account of his office," it added.


The committee report was finally tackled by the Senate on Monday afternoon after days of delay.

Pimentel’s contention

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. questioned Enrile on why the report was the first item on Monday's agenda.

"I would like to specifically object to the taking up of this committee report as the first item on the agenda. We have a rule that those first filed will be discussed first. This committee report cannot supervene the resolutions and bills filed ahead of it," Pimentel said.

Enrile, head of the committee of the whole that probed Villar, said that under existing rules, a committee report is always in the order of business. "A committee report submitted takes precedence over other things."

Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri sided with Enrile, saying they agreed Wednesday last week that the committee report would be the first item on the agenda after the chamber ran out of time to discuss it.

Enrile said the committee of the whole conducted 12 adjudicatory hearings and the complainant, Senator Ma Ana Consuelo Madrigal, presented 900 pieces of documentary evidence and testimonies of witnesses. He said that despite the opportunities accorded to Villar to participate in the hearings, the latter refused to do so.

The committee’s findings

The Senate chief said the committee found Villar, a presidential candidate, guilty of violating Section 12 of the 1987 Constitution and Section 3 (i) in relation to Section 9 of Repbulic Act 6713 or The Code of Conduct of Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees and engaging himself in improper and unethical conduct "that adversely reflects upon the Senate."

Aside from censuring Villar, the committee wanted the senator to return to the government the P6.22 billion his company allegedly “gained" through illegal means from the construction of the C-5 road extension.

Enrile said there is substantial, credible evidence that Villar is a major stockholder of Adelfa Properties Inc, which owns Golden Haven Memorial Park and Azalea Real Estate Corporation (now Britanny Corporation), and was the proponent of Las Piñas-Parañaque Link Road project and the government's C-5 road extension project.

He said the road projects were made to pass through the properties of the corporations of Villar following a curved, instead of a straight, alignment.

Enrile said the alignment of the C-5 road extension segment of the Manila-Cavite Toll Expressway Project had to be changed just to accommodate the alignments of the Las Piñas-Parañaque and C-5 extension projects.

Villar's corporations allegedly received road right-of-way compensation and still have unpaid claims. It said the properties of Villar that were acquired were given zonal valuation for different areas, thus increasing the compensation due them.

Enrile said Villar failed to avoid a conflict-of-interest situation by not divesting himself of his shareholdings or interest in the mentioned corporations. It added that Villar used his power to satisfy the interest of his corporations.

The Senate is still tackling the issue as of posting time. - with reports from Sophia Dedace/ KBK, GMANews.TV



Do you think naa probable cause ang issue against villar??

[gubaon]

return of investment

[roderick_m]

return of investment

Senador pa gani, consistent ang pattern sa iya style nga mogamit sa position para makapabor iya negosyo/properties. Sa part sa article "committee findings" gi-discuss ang Manny-obra. Dili man cguro na himo2x kay naa man public hearings(not closed-door hearings) unya several times gihatagan ug higayon c Villar para mo-present sa iya side but nagpa-goryo2x lang cya. Pero kung ang findings pabor pa sa iyaha, Im sure mag-una na sad cya ug pagarpar sa publiko.

On the other note, diri sa cebu padulong sad sa iya golden haven memorial park sa talamban, bisan gamay pa tawo maka-benefit pero gi-una jud ug panindot ang brgy road padulong sa iya cementeryo.

[Godfather]

Layo pa gani ang eleksiyon, 2B na ang nagasto sa iyang kumpanya. Kong simbako modaug, pila man sad kaha ang tubo aning iyang investment? Samot ka purdoy ang nasud. Samot kadaghang pamilya mabungkag kay kinhangan molangyaw aron makakita ug kwarta para bayad sa investment ni Villar. Naa ra gyud ni nato kong mosugot ba ta nga atong kaugalingong kwarta gamiton para ipalit sa position nga presidente.

[KaRoger]

this is politicking... even if its true, i think the timing of the issue is very ominous...
if thats the case then the senators should all review their properties...
particularly the majority senators!

these senators should have discussed more important matters like agrarian reform, but i guess noynoy and his lackeys wont allow that since he has a duty to protect his family's lands.... so much for the saintly politician turned TRAPO.

[KaRoger]

in addition.... i dont think enrile is credible enough to be the president of the senate and the presiding senator on this issue. why?

remember marcos! it was enrile's plan to stage a mock assassination attempt of marcos. he even wounded himself to make it look real. and because of that marcos had an excuse to decalre martial law.
marcos and enrile were like bestfriends...

and ironically when EDSAI became pop culture... enrile back stabbed his bestfriend, along with ramos and other TRAPOS.

tsk3x.... i think we should all reflect on this... coz the majority senators composed by enrile and others who claim moral ascendancy over Villar, may be worse than the accused.

[kath81]

graveh tlaga mga political leaders sa ato way mapili.....

[peewee_toot]

in addition.... i dont think enrile is credible enough to be the president of the senate and the presiding senator on this issue. why?

remember marcos! it was enrile's plan to stage a mock assassination attempt of marcos. he even wounded himself to make it look real. and because of that marcos had an excuse to decalre martial law.
marcos and enrile were like bestfriends...

and ironically when EDSAI became pop culture... enrile back stabbed his bestfriend, along with ramos and other TRAPOS.

tsk3x.... i think we should all reflect on this... coz the majority senators composed by enrile and others who claim moral ascendancy over Villar, may be worse than the accused.

only in the philippines. hahaiz...

[roderick_m]

this is politicking... even if its true, i think the timing of the issue is very ominous...
if thats the case then the senators should all review their properties...
particularly the majority senators!

these senators should have discussed more important matters like agrarian reform, but i guess noynoy and his lackeys wont allow that since he has a duty to protect his family's lands.... so much for the saintly politician turned TRAPO.

Hmm familiar line of defense, "politicking".
Bisan pa cguro if layo pa ang election, most probably mao gihapon ang e-rason ni villar, political prosecution, blah, blah, blah...
Ngano ka ha wala gi-atubang ni villar ang issue head-on nga gihatagan man cya ug chance several times sa senate investigation nga mo-atubang?? Paling2x kaayo c villar, sa una sa on-going ang senate investigation, dili daw cya motoo sa mao nga investigation, unya naay resolution nga e-dismiss, pirti niya pagarpar sa mga tawo nga na-dismiss, unya karon naa na sad resolution nga nga to censure him, dili na sad daw cya motoo. Motoo lang diay cya kung pabor niya?
If naa senators, mibali sa ila previous stance, patas lang, c loren "political prostitute" legarda bitaw mibali man sad, hilom na man, nga sa una pirti panaway ni villar sa C-5 issue, ambot kung nakadawat ba sa Money-obra??

C5 is villar's issue. Its separate from Enrile's issue or any other issues sa uban nga senators nga pabor sa censure. Kung naa other issue, then maybe they can take that up separately. Dili kay murag e-try nila ug divert ang issue.

Utro pud gilbert remulla nga kauban ni villar, imbis ingnon iya idol villar nga atubangon ang issue, mohisgot na nuon ug separate issue like Port Irene ni Enrile, maybe to try to divert again the C-5 issue.

[nosibalasi]

C-5 at Taga: IMMORAL LESSON: If you STEAL FROM GOVERNMENT, pray that they'll catch ONLY during election period.... you'll get away with it using the magic word, "POLITICALLY MOTIVATED"

Money eVIL LIAR! Bilyones nay nagas2 sa pangampanya, dili niya bawi-on....