Senate starts hearing ethics complaint vs Villar

(Updated 9:12 a.m.) MANILA, Philippines - The Senate committee of the whole started hearing Monday morning the ethics complained filed against Senator Manuel Villar Jr. Present in the hearing held at the session hall were Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr., Senators Panfilo Lacson, Alan Peter Cayetano, Gregorio Honasan II, Manuel Roxas II. Pimentel questioned the determination of quorum saying there should be more than 12 senators opposed to the declaration of Enrile that the quorum is present with six senators being the 2/3 of 18 senators who are in the country. "Some are abroad, some are not available to attend the hearings. Those in the country who cannot attend, 18, 1/3 of that, six, would constitute a quorum," Enrile said. Villar was not in the session hall. Villar left the country over the weekend for a "planned trip" to Europe, Cayetano told GMANews.TV. He said the trip abroad has been scheduled even before the Senate decided to hear the ethics complaint against Villar. "Even if he (Villar) was here it would not be good for him to attend," Cayetano said. However, in a text message to GMANews.TV, Pimentel said he was not aware of Villar's trip abroad. Cayetano said the minority bloc decided to participate in the hearing of the committee of the whole "without abandoning our objections and question on jurisdiction." "We will participate with Senator Enrile’s assurance that the hearing will be fair. We will make sure that the rules will be fair," Cayetano said. He said they will see how fair the hearing would be. "The proof of pudding is in the eating." Cayetano added that the minority bloc will raise the issues they deemed important and hopes that the committee will reverse or issue clarification on the provisions they object. Committee of the whole Last week, Lacson moved to have the investigation handled by all senators convening as a committee of the whole, after Villar refused to submit himself to the ethics committee. The complaint against Villar, filed by Sen. Maria Ana Consuelo Madrigal, involved violations of the 1987 Constitution and the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards of Government Officials and Employees. Senate ethics committee legal counsel Johnmuel Mendoza was to cite evidence provided by Madrigal to back her arguments that Villar violated the law. "The Senate President did not only negotiate a contract with the government; he also negotiated through his company a contract with the government for the sale of his properties at a grossly overpriced amount, to the grave damage and prejudice of the Filipino people," Madrigal said in her complaint. She cited TCT 18701 of Brittany Corp., a firm supposedly owned by Villar, for 22,543 square meters worth P92.325 million or P15,000 per square meter. In contrast, she noted an adjacent property bought by government was worth P4,000 per square meter, or a fourth of the amount. Madrigal also accused Villar of proposing the purchase of new properties for road right-of-way and realignment of the original plan for the C-5 Road Extension Project. The proponents in the project profile were Villar and his wife, Las Piñas Rep. Cynthia Villar. Also, Madrigal listed at least 12 properties owned by Villar that got road right-of-way payments for the C-5 Road Extension Project, including seven by Adelfa Properties and five by Golden Haven Memorial Park. She also claimed that from January 2003 to December 2006, Villar inserted funds in the Department of Public Works and Highways lump sum allocation in 2004 to pay road right-of-way purchases for his corporations – as then chairman of the Senate finance committee. "As Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, (he) allocated his PDAF/pork barrel for the purchase of his own properties," Madrigal said in her complaint. - with Amita Legaspi, GMANews.TV