Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile formally sponsored on Monday the release of the 84-page committee report that seeks to censure Nacionalista Party standard-bearer Sen. Manuel Villar Jr. for alleged improper and unethical conduct over the controversial C-5 road extension project.

Enrile, head of the Committee of the Whole tasked to investigate the ethics complaint against Villar over the alleged irregularities in the C-5 road extension project linking Las Piñas and Paranaque City, defended the findings of the panel during Monday’s session.

Enrile said the committee found Villar guilty of improper and unethical conduct for not disclosing his “pecuniary interest” on the realignamengt.

The report reprimanded Villar for failing to notify the Senate of a “potential conflict of interest” when he proposed an amendment to the 2008 National Budget by appropriating P400 million which may be used to pay the claims of his corporations for unpaid road-right-of-way compensation.

The report demanded that Villar pay back the government P6.22 billion which he allegedly gained with the realignment of the C-5 road project.

Enrile said there is "substantial and credible evidence" that Villar and his wife Rep. Cynthia Villar are substantial stockholders of Adelfa Properties, Inc., which in turn is the owner of Golden Haven Memorial Park, Inc., and Azalea Real Estate Corp., which is now Brittany Corp.

"Mr. President, this representation makes no offense, or defense, or apologies in presenting this committee report. I appear and rise before this chamber this afternoon as a matter of duty — imposed upon me by peers and members of the Senate, as chairman of the Senate Committee of the Whole," Enrile said in the opening of his sponsorship speech.

Prior to Enrile's speech, the minority bloc, led by Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr., objected that putting the C-5 report first on the Senate plenary agenda violated a previous agreement.

Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri, however, said that the matter had been lined up for deliberation since last week when the Senate was supposed to tackle the report after gaining the signature of 12 senators.

Enrile said that under the rules, a committee report is always in order at "anytime when it's already presented."

At least 17 senators were present in the session hall when Enrile presented the report. They were Senate Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada, Senator Majority Leader Juan MIguel Zubiri, Senators Pimentel, Santiago, Gregorio Honasan, Rodolfo Biazon, Ana Consuelo "Jamby" Madrigal, Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III, Edgardo Angara, Loren Legarda, Alan Peter Cayetano, Pilar Juliana Cayetano, Manuel Roxas II, Joker Arroyo, Francis Escudero, Ramon "Bong" Revilla Jr., and Francis Pangilinan.

The situation in the Senate appeared to have come to a stalemate as it failed to muster 16 votes from its 23 members to censure Senator Villar.

Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago explained: "There is a stalemate because the rules in the Senate provide that to be able to discipline our fellow colleague, we have to muste two-thirds of the entire membership of the Senate. Out of 23, that would be a vote of 16."

She added: "The only proper action that can be done is to accept the committee report which has already 12 signatures, but 12 signatures is not sufficient to make the recommendation of the committee valid, effective, and executory," she said.

Villar had vehemently denied the charges from the public orks project and refused to appear during the public hearing by the Senate committee based on the complaint of Senators Jamby Madrigal and Panfilo M. Lacson.

Santiago maintained that Villar should be acquitted of the charges because "the report itself admits there is no direct evidence."

"Number two, the report itself (showed) certain authorities who are relevant to the proceedings said there is no double appropriation, plus it is extremely difficult to find out how much to quantify, for example, the amount which should be returned to the government," she said.

"The original complaint against (Villar) is for double appropriation. Now, it is P6.2 billion," she said.

A former law professor and a former trial court judge, Santiago maintained that the standard "beyond reasonable doubt" should have been adopted by th committee in weighing the evidence against Villar "because we are disciplining a fellow senator."

Santiago bewailed that the Senate Committee of the Whole had adopted a lesses standard which is "substantial credible evidence."

The 12 signatories of the Senate minority resolution exculpating Villar from the chrages of unethical conduct last December were reduced to 10 after Senate President Pro Tempore Jose "Jinggoy" Estrada and Senator Francis Pangilinan withdrew their signatures.

A militant group said Monday it is considering bolting the camp of Sen. Manuel Villar should the Nacionalista Party standard-bearer continue refusing to face the Senate Committee of the Whole which wants him censured over the controversial C-5 Road extension project.

Bayan Muna party list Rep. Satur Ocampo said Villar should heed their advice to face the Senate and defend himself on the floor against Committee Report 780 of the chamber’s Ethics Committee for the sake of transparency.

The committee report recommends Villar’s censure over the controversial C-5 Road extension and directs him to return P6.22 billion that the government might have lost due to changes in the project that supposedly benefited Villar’s properties in Las Piñas City.

Ocampo and Gabriela party list Rep. Liza Maza are included in the NP senatorial slate for the May 10, 2010 elections. (With reports from Mario Casayuran ad Gabriel Mabutas)