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Ethics probe on Villar running on ‘flawed system’ - Miriam


MANILA, Philippines - The inquiry on the ethics complaint against Senator Manuel “Manny" Villar is running on a “flawed system" and is a “waste of time," Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago said Sunday. In an interview over radio dzBB, Santiago also said the inquiry may not be fair because the complaint’s author and proponent – Sen. Ma. Ana Consuelo Madrigal and Sen. Panfilo Lacson, respectively – are part of the proceedings. “How can you expect the senators, who are themselves political figures, to undertake a judicial proceeding where objectivity is the foremost value?" she said, adding that the case against Villar is better off handled by the proper court. The complaint stemmed from allegations that Villar benefited from the “double insertion" in the budget for C-5 road extension project. The budget was approved in early 2008, when Villar was still Senate president. He has repeatedly belied the accusation, citing politics behind the complaint. Santiago, who didn't attend the hearings due to chronic fatigue syndrome, said she would not be surprised should the committee hand down a guilty verdict against Villar because the panel is composed mostly of members of the majority. Villar, who has not appeared in any of the hearings, is part of the minority bloc. Lacson, for his part, said Santiago’s remarks made it appear that the senators have no mind of their own in determining whether Villar committed a breach of ethics in the alleged double funding for the C-5 road project. He said if the committee of the whole would not hear the complaint, any senator would then be free to commit wrongdoing. “Napaka-unfair ‘pag ganyan ang mindset. I-abolish na lang natin ang ethics committee at hayaan na gumawa ng kung ano ang gusto nilang gawin," he said in a separate dzBB interview. [Such mindset is unfair. If we would follow that line of thinking, we should then abolish the ethics committee and allow anyone to commit any wrongdoing.] The senator likewise hit back at Santiago for saying that the inquiry should be transferred to the courts. Lacson said because the complaint against Villar was administrative, it should not be handled by the courts which he said should only determine the criminal liability of a person. Lacson also chided Villar for his failure to appear in any of the hearings on the complaint. He questioned why Villar was willing to defend himself before the media and not before the Senate committee. Villar and other members of the minority bloc had since criticized the proceedings on the ethics complaint, which they said had already "pre-judged" Villar. But Lacson said it was unfair to accuse the Senate of such, adding that it was disappointing of Villar to “continuously defy" the institution he belongs to. - GMANews.TV
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