Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile claimed beleaguered Sen. Manuel Villar Jr. asked him to tone down a controversial report of the Senate committee of whole censuring the Nacionalista Party standar-bearer for unethical conduct for fear that it would hobble Villar’s presidential bid.

In a radio interview Tuesday morning, Enrile said he acceded to a recent invitation for lunch from Villar in a Makati City hotel where Villar allegedly dropped hints that he could be of help to the Senate President.

Although he did not disclose when the meeting took place, Enrile said he felt it was an “indecent proposal” when Villar told him, “Baka kayo may kailangan”.

He said it happened before he submitted the committee report to the Senate for debate.

The Senate finally took up the report Monday with Enrile delivering his sponsorship speech. Villar did not attend the session and had consistently refused to present any evidence to refute the charges.

The report, signed by 13 senators, sought the censure of Villar for alleged unethical conduct, and for him to pay back to the government some P6.2 billion which his real estate businesses allegedly earned from the re-alignment of the C-5 road project.

Enrile said Villar should be thankful to him because he had given him all the time to refute the charges and rebut the witnesses presented by his accusers, Senators Maria Ana Consuelo “Jamby’’ Madrigal and Panfilo M. Lacson.

Sen. Francis Escudero for his part said he was saddened over the heated debate that ensued among senators when the Senate tackled the issue.

Escudero said the attacks got “too personal” and seemed to have diverted from the real issue at hand which was to get Villar to answer the charges himself.

Villar’s allies in the minority bloc, Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Nene” Pimentel, Jr. and Alan Peter Cayetano, defended him.

“Nalungkot (ako),” Escudero said. “Kasi hindi napag-usapan ‘yung issue eh. Nadala sa lebel na personalan.”

“He was voted by the people here (Senate). He is part of the institution. He should do the explaining here not outside. He owes the institution and the public an explanation,” he said in Filipino, referring toVillar.

Senators who traded barbs and insults during the plenary included Sen. Manuel Roxas II, vice presidential candidate of the Liberal Party, Pimentel, Madrigal and Enrile.

Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri also cautioned his colleagues in the 23-member Senate to uphold the ‘’history of this honorable chamber’’ by not using unparliamentary language.

Sen. Richard J. Gordon, one of three senators seeking the presidency in the May 10, 2010 national and local elections, also advised his colleagues to be civil to one another “because the world and the country are looking at us.’’

At one point during the debate, the use of the term ‘’congressional insertion’’ (CI) was used in a sexist context by Pimentel when he crossed verbal swords with Roxas.

After Roxas slammed Pimentel’s language because it referred to his wife, Pimentel said, “I will take it out immediately’’, meaning that the recorded verbal exchange must be expunged.

Pimentel also hinted that Madrigal was an ‘’abused child.’’