The 84-page report of the Senate committee of the whole chaired by Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile censuring Sen. Manuel Villar Jr., for alleged unethical conduct admitted that there was no direct evidence to find Villar guilty of misconduct on the controversial C-5 road project.

Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago, a former law professor and former trial court judge, stressed that the report signed by 12 senators in the 23-member Senate also did not meet the standard of “proof beyond reasonable doubt.’’

This developed as the Nacionalista Party (NP) turned the table against Liberal Party standard bearer Sen. Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III as they sought an inquiry about the controversy about the Subic Clark Tarlac Expressway (SCTEx), particularly the alleged overpriced purchase of the right of way in the Hacienda.

Santiago said that the standard “proof beyond reasonable doubt’’ in criminal should have been adopted because the penalty imposed on a senator could go as high as expulsion.

For a grave case slapped against Villar, Santiago asked aloud why the Senate used the “credible substantial evidence’’ standard, a lower grade in assessing the impact of pieces of evidence presented.

Aside from censuring Villar, the presidential candidate of the NP in the May 10, 2010 presidential election, the report also asked him (Villar) to pay back to the government P6.2 billion that his realty firm allegedly benefited from the re-alignment of the road project.

Villar insisted he has not committed any wrong but found himself the target of scorn by the committee whose members come mostly from the majority bloc. He tagged the committee as a “kangaroo court’’ where he does not expect justice to be meted.

Santiago stressed that she signed a draft resolution acquitting Villar of the charge against him with the ethics and privileges committee chaired by Sen. Panfilo M. Lacson which was later transferred to the committee of the whole.

“I am concerned with the standard of proof which is not provided in the Rules of the Senate. The draft committee report uses the following standard: ‘Credible substantial evidence.’ I humbly submit that the standard of proof should be: ‘Proof beyond reasonable doubt’,’’ she said.

Santiago maintained that there should be a different standard of proof on the two occasions when the Senate exercises its power to investigate.

The first, according to her, is when the Senate conducts ordinary public hearings of a criminal nature which usually ends in a recommendation for preliminary investigation to the Ombudsman.

“This being the case, the standard is low: Prima facie standard which is lower than the ‘probable cause’ standard in a preliminary investigation,’’ she pointed out.

Remulla said the SCTEx project was first conceived in 1999 at the cost of P15.7 billion. By 2007, the cost of the project more than doubled at P32.8 billion, with an additional supplemental loan of P6.7 billion made to cover price escalation, contingency and, interest that further bloated the price.