The campaign for the Philippine presidency is in full swing. Even before the start of the official campaign period, the wealthiest presidential aspirant. Manuel Villar, has already spent a billion pesos on political ads. Villar, a former speaker of the house and a disgraced senate president, is hounded by allegations of abuse of power and land grabbing.
Several of those who have lost their farmlands to Villar’s real estate companies have come out to seek justice. Villar is alleged to have bribed local politicians and regional officers of the Dept. of Agrarian Reform to convert prime agricultural lands to subdivisions. He is also accused of using his position for road projects that increased the value of his properties. In fact, an ethics case filed against him by a colleague remains unresolved, blocked by his allies in the senate.
With his enormous campaign kitty, he continues to flood all forms of media with his political ads. Certain reports say that he is Pres. Gloria Arroyo’s presidential bet and not Sec. Gilbert Teodoro, Arroyo’s political party’s anointed one. There are talks circulating that if Villar should win, he will not go after Arroyo who is accused of graft and corruption.
With the elections drawing near, Villar is going for the jugular. He has enlisted celebrities to endorse him. He has exploited children and women to campaign for him. He has even bought some members of the media to do the demolition job for him. He still trails Sen. Benigno Aquino, III, son of the late Pres. Corazon Aquino in the surveys.
This is the first campaign I’ve witnessed where money is not a concern. Villar who entered politics in 1998 with a few million in his pocket is now several billions richer. His net worth then was P75 million, now it’s a colossal P43 billion. This makes me wonder how in such a short span of time, he was able to amass such great wealth? Philippine law dictates that a speaker or senate president should divest himself. Apparently, he has not. And this could be another case that could be brought against him.
So far, he is the only individual who is in the list of the top 20 advertisers on TV. Mind you, included in the list are some of the biggest companies in the Philippines. All his ads are political ads. That’s how massive his spending is. I’ve studied his career at great detail and has even published his shenanigans. Knowing how shrewd Villar is, I am sure that he will try to recoup his spendings should he become president.
I’m not so sure about campaigns in other countries, but in the Philippines, seldom do you see a candidate whose goal is to serve the people. So far, the late Pres. Aquino is the only one who really cared for the Filipinos. The rest have scandals attached to them. I just hope that the people will not be swayed by slogans, jingles and motherhood rhetoric.
Tags: Corruption, presidential campaign, villar
April 5th, 2010 at 8:33 am
It is very interesting to read blog posts from the Philippines about the election. This is the second post I’ve read about Villar and I’m glad to see people talking about it. Here in the States we have people spend as much on a Senate or Governor’s race as Villar has spent on his Presidential bid. Yet more and more, people are finding discovering how much money corrupts in politics and the importance of voting for the person with the best ideas and most willing to serve the country. I pray that people in the Philippines will look past the expensive advertising and find the candidates with the best ideas and the strongest committment to serving the country. Keep up the blogging about this.
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