Embattled Nacionalista Party (NP) president and standard-bearer Senator Manny Villar is determined to ignore the deliberations of the Senate Committee of the Whole on the C-5 road extension project, reiterating that all the accusations against him were baseless and politically motivated.

In declaring his resolve not to attend the Senate deliberation, Villar said his Senate political adversaries have tried hard but failed to drag him into the fray by recycling accusations that he benefited from the C-5 road extension project. He added his foes have become so desperate that they now resort to name-calling.

Villar as expected snubbed the Senate deliberation of the Committee of the Whole last Monday about the chamber’s report on the C-5 road controversy.

“I was called a coward and a copycat by some of my colleagues. But the truth is I have never evaded the issue. I have answered the issues they threw at me. I stood on the floor of the Senate two years ago to rebut their charges,” Villar said.

“I have always faced the music. But I did not dance to their music and never will. I addressed the Filipino people directly about the C-5 issue. I am available to media to answer questions. My opponents want to make me a whipping boy to boost their political plans. Why should I give them the satisfaction?” the NP presidential candidate added.

Villar said he would also stay away from a looming vote on the Senate floor on the motion by his foes to censure him in connection with the C-5 issue.

He reiterated that the charges against him are all politically motivated.

He said it was no coincidence that the C-5 controversy was revived at a time when his ratings were closing in on his closest rival, Liberal Party standard-bearer Sen. Benigno Aquino III.

“Look at the cast of characters on the other side, they are candidates for president or their respective allies,” he said.

Sen. Manuel Roxas III is Aquino’s running mate while another accuser, Sen. Ma. Ana Consuelo Madrigal, is also running for the president.

“The Liberal Party panicked when they saw the surveys. They were the ones who leaked the committee report. It’s obvious,” Villar disclosed.

Villar had slashed Aquino’s lead in the surveys by as much as 30 percentage points in less than three months. And in a one-on-one scenario, the Social Weather Stations (SWS) put Aquino’s lead over Villar by a slim eight points in a survey conducted in December last year.

Villar also defended the C-5 project.

“I am happy with the C-5 road project because it is now being used by six million of our countrymen from Cavite, Las Piñas, Parañaque, Taguig, and Makati. I had wanted to ease the traffic in our area and I was able to do that. And for that I am proud,” he said.

Sen. Joker Arroyo, an ally of Sen. Villar, bravely defended Villar and pointed out that of the ethics charges filed with the Senate, only Villar’s case was pursued while the rest were not discussed.
With this distinction, Sen. Villar together with his friends adopted the position of not attending. Why?

Because the other complaints were not moving while his was brought to plenary,” Arroyo said in his sponsorship speech last Monday.

When you cannot expect justice, then there is nothing dishonorable for not participating said Arroyo.

We are not embarrassed and we will insist on Resolution 1472, Arroyo said referring to the resolution initially signed by 12 senators clearing Villar of any improper behavior in connection with the C5 road extension issue.

Sen. Arroyo assailed the Committee of the Whole which he said framed a new set of rules, fashioned particularly, for Senator Villar.

The Committee of the Whole framed a new set of rules, fashioned, particularly, for Senator Villar.

In other words, the rules of the Ethics Committee were not adopted by the Committee of the Whole but the Committee of the Whole formulated new rules, particularly for Villar. Under these circumstances, Sen. Arroyo said the Committee of the Whole chaired by Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile committed a violation of the constitutional prohibition on ex post facto rule.

“An ex post facto rule says, in effect, that we cannot apply a rule retrospectively. It can only be prospectively. In other words, the Senate cannot adopt a rule today and apply it to the actuations of members of the Senate Tuesday.

It can only be applied today, tomorrow and in the future. That is the essence of ex post facto rule. And it is my respectful submission that the Committee of the Whole committed a violation of the constitutional prohibition on ex post facto regulations where the rule it adopted was applied to Villar after he had committed the alleged infractions, Arroyo explained.

Sen. Arroyo also took time to remind his fellow senators that the so called P200-million insertion being hurled against Villar was adopted by the Finance Committee which he claimed is composed of practically the entire membership of the Senate.