12 senators want ethics case vs Villar dismissed

Twelve senators on Monday signed a resolution urging the Senate to junk the ethics complaint against Senator Manny Villar Jr., a presidential aspirant in next year’s elections. The 12 believed that Senator Ma Ana Consuelo Madrigal, who filed the ethics complaint against Villar, failed to prove her accusations that the Nacionalista Party standard bearer profited from the C-5 road construction project by the government. Villar is also accused of realigning the C-5 road extension project to benefit properties registered in the name of corporations that he and his family own and control. There was also supposedly a conflict of interest on Villar’s part when he did not divest himself of interest in corporations whose properties were acquired by the government for road right of way for the Las Piñas-Paranaque road. “The undersigned senators find that there is nothing to hold Senator Villar for disorderly behavior in the performance of his duties as senator," Senate Resolution 1472 read. Those who signed the resolution were Senate Pro Tempore Jose “Jinggoy" Estrada, Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr, Senators Alan Peter Cayetano, Pilar Juliana Cayetano, Lito Lapid, Gregorio Honasan II, Joker Arroyo, Miriam Defensor Santiago, Ramon Revilla Jr., Francis Pangilinan, Villar and his reported running mate, Loren Legarda. The signatories said the allegations that Villar was behind the double insertion of a P200-million fund for the C-5 construction project in the 2008 national budget was not established despite the 20 hearings conducted on the case. “On the contrary, the undersigned senators find that these are not insertions but amendments that the Senate approved in the 2008 GAA [General Appropriations Act]," they said. Madrigal is yet to comment on the issue as of posting time as she is in Europe for official business, according to her media officer Len Jontongco. Jontongco told GMANews.TV that Madrigal would want to read the resolution first before issuing a statement. No realignment The 12 signatories also believe Villar did not authorize realignment for the C5 road project to secure its passing through the real estate properties of his companies. They said there is no strong evidence of overpricing in the affected lots as the acquisitions were based on zonal valuations duly and properly certified by the Bureau of Internal Revenue. “Neither did we find any participation on the part of Senator Villar or the officers and staff of his companies in the acquisitions by the DPWH [Department of Public Works and Highways] of the lots for public use as to hold him liable for any conflict of interest respecting said right of way acquisitions," they said. The senators said it is their duty to rectify unsubstantiated charges against a peer “who has been unjustly pilloried for over six months." “We can do no less. This is a bad precedent. We hope these kind of charges and kind of hearing are not repeated in the future," they said in the resolution. Committee report This development came as the Senate committee of the whole, which is probing the ethics case, is still crafting its report on the issue. The report, which Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile said would be ready by December, would need the signature of 12 of the 23 committee members to prosper. The committee wrapped up its investigation last October. The C5 road project controversy was one of the issues hurled against Villar last year and cost him the Senate presidency on November 17, 2008. Villar had repeatedly snubbed the ethics committee proceedings chaired by Senator Panfilo Lacson, saying Lacson and the committee members including Legarda, Manuel Roxas II, Francis Escudero and Richard Gordon are his potential rivals for the presidential race in 2010. Villar’s camp has accused his colleagues of ganging up on him due to his impressive ratings in opinion polls. Lacson later moved to have the Senate convene itself into a committee of the whole to handle the issue, with Enrile as presiding officer. Villar has repeatedly denied the accusations against him. Among those presented by the complainant in the past hearings to prove the liability of Villar were lawyer Yolanda Doblon, director general of the Legislative Budget and Research Management Office; consultant Anastacio Adriano Jr.; and former revenue officer Carmelita Bacod. Adriano was reportedly the one who "dictated" to Yolanda Doblon, director general of Senate legislative budget and research monitoring office, the amendments of Villar in the 2008 proposed national budget, including the fund for the controversial road project. - GMANews.TV