Saturday, April 17, 2010

Why Vote for Manny Villar?

A self-made man. An iconoclast in the business world. A great achiever. A visionary. This is how I and many others describe Manny Villar. The only question that I want others to answer is this—Villar is all what people expect him except a revolutionary. And our times call for a revolutionist as our leader.

Villar, in spite of his bravura, is not fit to be president, simply because during his terms as Senate president and Speaker of the House, he was not instrumental in legislating laws that improved our lives.  

Many people who are rooting for Nacionalista party standard bearer Manny Villar believe that he fits the job quite perfectly. Villar, they say, did many things. He builds low cost houses. He passed some legislation. He was formerly a speaker and Senate president. He’s ripe for the picking.

This is probably true. There is one question that I wanted everyone to answer—when Villar was speaker, was that a time when we all said “good job”? Was he remarkable as a Senate president too?

No. When Villar was speaker that was the time when he betrayed his closest friend, Joseph Estrada. Was there any landmark legislation during Villar’s time? None. We do not remember anything extraordinary when Villar was speaker of the Lower House.

How about when he was Senate president? None. Do we remember anything so significant and so earth-shaking in fact about his term? None. Not one single thing.  Fact is it was during his time that these graft charges filed against the Arroyos went to naught. 

And remember that C-5 controversy? He was there when the road was diverted. 

We all saw what happened in our country when Villar was speaker and when he was Senate president. There was no landmark legislation, nothing that changed our lives. Villar, as they say, was never even there.

Villar was out there, campaigning, solidifying his mass bases and preparing for the presidential campaign. He did not use his position as Speaker to implement laws that would have improved the lives of the poor. When he was Senate president, there were no changes made even in the way the Senate operates. Villar was just there for the position.

So, do we expect him to achieve anything better or anything revolutionary if elected as president? I doubt it. The Filipino People gave him all the chances to make the grade, but he failed—twice. How then will we be assured that he will do good as our president?
How then will Villar be able to effect substantial changes in the lives of the poor, when while he was boss of the Lower House and eventually, president of the Senate, Villar did nothing or did not even lift a finger or even found it upon himself to make laws that will improve the lives of the poor. Review the laws he was able to pass, and there was no single piece of legislation on improving the economic condition of the poorest Filipinos.

How then will Villar even say that he will end poverty when God and the electorate already gave him ample time to make his mark as an anti-poor crusader yet he failed? Are we so generous that we will give this man a second or third chance to again fail and fail miserably? As one of my friends said, if you want change, don’t do the same thing over and over again. Because if you do, you’ll get the same dismal result.

If you asked me, the only possible result is simply under a Manny Villar administration, things will be totally different. We will probably see one Villar corporation using a fake title as bank collateral. Villar did it when he was a member of the Lower house when his bank, Capitol Development Bank, used an alleged fake title to secure a 1.6 billion loan from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

Villar would probably defend himself by saying that he already divested all his business interests in favor of his children. That’s crap. Everyone knows in Vistaland that Manny Villar still calls the shots there. That is the same case in Camella Homes and other businesses of the Villars.

How then will Villar be able to recover the billions of pesos he spent during the campaign? Don’t tell me that we all were taken a joy ride by the Villars. Three billion pesos is nothing to sneeze at. Don’t even cajole me and say that Camille Villar will be able to recoup 3 billion pesos after the elections, without even dipping her fingers in any government-related project?

Let me end this by taking a jibe off the latest informecial of Villar and Loren. These candidates are asking us to vote for those with skills and experience already in governance. 


How can we even do what they’re asking when those with skills and experience like them did not even do good when we gave them the chance to lead us? Loren has been in public service for decades already; same case with Villar. Can you possibly and truthfully say straight to my face that your life improved because of them?

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