Villar ready to defend himself but...

MANILA, Philippines - Senator Manuel Villar Jr. on Monday reiterated his readiness to defend himself from the accusations regarding the C-5 road project, but he refused to say if he would appear before the Senate committee of the whole. In a chance interview, Villar said he is not happy with the way the committee of the whole is handling the rules that will govern the hearing on the ethics complaint against him by Senator Ma. Ana Consuelo Madrigal. "To be honest about it hindi ako natutuwa sa takbo ng paggawa ng rules ng committee. Masyado naman yata tine-tailor fit para sa akin lang [I’m not happy with the way the committee handles the rules. It seems they are tailor fitting it to pin me down]," Villar said. He said there are other senators who are also facing an ethics complaint and he expects many others will be faced with one, but it is the case against him that is being discussed. "Ako naman ay nakahandang ipagtanggol ko ang aking sarili. Ipinapaliwanag ko naman talaga ang C-5 at handa ako[ng] mapasinungalingan ang mga akusasyon sa akin. Pero yung sa kanila, sa tingin ko dapat paghandaan din nila [I’m ready to defend myself. I am explaining the C5 road project and I am ready to belie the accusations against me. But I think, the other senators should also prepare themselves]," Villar said. He said that with the junking of the amendments introduced by the minority bloc, complaints stemming from a wrong deed done years ago can be filed before the ethics committee. "Sa akin naman, sana sabayan na rin yung mga Dacer-Corbito, mga Kuratong Baleleng, dapat i-bring up lahat yan dahil hindi naman yung mga simpleng double entry ang ating aasikasuhin dito sa Senado kung gusto natin talagang maging mataas ang lebel ng mga senador," Villar said. [We should bring up the cases such as the Dacer-Corbito double murder, Kuratong Baleleng because we should not limit ourselves to the discussion of a double entry if we want to raise the level of the senators.] Senator Panfilo Lacson has been linked both to the Dacer-Corbito twin killings and Kuratong Baleleng incident. Lacson has repeatedly denied any involvement or wrongdoing in both instances. But Villar, refused to say if a complaint against Lacson should be filed in connection with the Dacer-Corbito killings or the Kuratong Baleleng incident. "Ang sinasabi ko lang, pwede na pala magsampa at hindi ko masasabi naman kung may magsasampa hindi lang 'ke Senator Lacson kundi sa lahat ng senador [What I’m saying is that we can now file cases stemming from incidents even before we were elected senators. But I cannot say if someone would indeed file a case against Lacson or any other senator]," Villar said. Nonetheless, Villar said he still does not know if he will attend the hearing of the Senate committee of the whole presided by Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile. Earlier in the day, the Senate committee of the whole asked Villar to attend the preliminary inquiry of the ethics complaint filed against him on Thursday after the discussion of the amendments introduced by the minority bloc. "I direct the secretariat, general counsel and secretary of committee to notify the respondent, that in accordance with Rule 24, that there is a preliminary inquiry and he may appear to respond if he wishes, to the matters being discussed in the preliminary inquiry," Enrile told the panel. Enrile, however, said it would still be up to Villar if he wants to attend the preliminary inquiry proceedings. - GMAnews.TV