Villar is going down, down, down!

Senator Manuel Itik-itik Villar must have choked when Senator Jamby Madrigal resumed her hearing on the C-5 investigations.

Villar made a potshot against our Senator Madrigal and said that the hearing was in aid of election. And this is perhaps only because he has found someone who has more money than he does and has a bigger team on the ground. Senator Madrigal is a real threat to Villar, and he knows it, and this is why he is shivering in the knees right now.

Villar ‘modus operandi’ bared in Senate probe
By Maila Ager
INQUIRER.net
First Posted 10:17:00 08/12/2009

Filed Under: Politics, Graft & Corruption, Laws
MANILA, Philippines—(UPDATE 4) A “modus operandi” that allegedly multiplied the profits by companies owned by Senator Manny Villar and wife Las Pinas Representative Cynthia Villar has been exposed at the resumption of the Senate investigation into the alleged anomalous construction of the C-5 road project in Paranaque City.

Testifying at the Senate committee of the whole on Wednesday, Senator Maria Ana Consuelo “Jamby” Madrigal revealed how the couple used their corporations to get a P3.5-billion loan from the Central Bank.

She said Adelfa Properties and Link holdings Inc. owned by the couple bought three lands owned by Enrique Factor, Maria Rodriguez, and Iluminada Rordiguez for P11 million, P11.3 million, and P18.7 million, respectively.

But after only 10 days, Madrigal said, the lands had been mortgaged to the Capitol Development Bank, also owned by the couple, for P100 million except for the third land, which only cost P81.5 million. Senator Villar was congressman at that time.

She noted that the amount approved by the bank for the first two lands was 10 times of the original price while the third land was four times of the original amount.

After two and a half years, however, the bank declared bankruptcy in 1999 and availed of an emergency fund amounting to P3.5 billion from the Central Bank using the lands as collateral.

But these lands, Madrigal said, were also sold by Villars’ corporations to the government when the C-5 construction passed through these properties.

“Nanganak ng nanganak ng pera para sa korporasyon ni Villar. Nakakagulat, paano nila ginawa ito [It earned money for Villar’s corporations. It’s shocking how they did it],” she said.

She branded this modus-operandi as the “grandfather” of the Legacy scam.

“Ito yata ang lolo ng Legacy scam. Tulad Legacy scam maraming tao ang napinsala [This is perhaps the grandfather of the Legacy scam. Like the Legacy scam, many were adversely affected],” Madrigal said.

The Senate committee of the whole has resumed its hearing on the ethics complaint filed against Villar over the alleged anomalous construction of the C-5 road extension project in Paranaque City.

Nine senators, including complainant Madrigal, were present when the committee headed by Senate President Juan Ponce-Enrile began a little past 10 a.m.

Villar has repeatedly denied the allegation. Both Villar and Madrigal have declared their intention to run for president in 2010.

But Enrile noted that until now, Villar has not yet indicated his intention to participate in the proceeding.

Villar and his colleagues in the new minority group in the Senate agreed to boycott the proceeding, saying the rules of the committee were designed to pin down the respondent.

“There’s nothing that will prevent them from participating. They are welcome to participate but we can’t compel them to participate,” he said.

Escudero reiterated his call for the respondent to use the opportunity to answer the accusation being thrown at him and to shed light on the issue.