ORANI, Bataan – Thousands of Bataeños warmly welcomed Senator Manny Villar as he led the gift-giving activities in his mother’s hometown in Orani last Friday.

It has been the tradition of Villar, a known son of Bataan, and his wife Rep. Cynthia Villar, to visit Bataan every December to share gifts to their friends and neighbors in their ancestral home on Rizal Street, Barangay Pacar.

“It always feels good to visit Bataan and be reminded of how my Nanay Curing, the original Ms. Sipag at Tiyaga, lived as a young woman,” said Villar, the standard-bearer of the Nacionalista Party.

This was not the first time that Villar visited Orani town and the whole province of Bataan. He had been here several times due to various invitations from non-government organizations, government personnel, fishermen, and farmers.

Giant billboards and tarpaulins were also seen posted in front of the Provincial Capitol in Balanga City and other towns in Bataan even before Villar visited Bataan.

Villar’s mother, Curita Bamba Villar, is a native of Orani. She is the daughter of a fisherman and a housemade. To help her family, she would collect empty tin cans and sell these to bagoong dealers. It is also in Bataan where Nanay Curing started selling fish.

Villar said he inherited his mother’s business-mindedness, which guided him to succeed in business.