Juan Country

Senator Manny Villar went to the Senate today to finally defend himself against the relentless pummeling of his political rivals. He gave his speech and then walked out, refusing to debate with Senator Jamby Madrigal. In his speech he categorically denied and rebutted most of the major issues that were slammed against him. I’d like to take this opportunity to match his responses from his speech to the article written by Winnie Monsod which practically condemned Manny Villar. Mareng Winnie’s article has been circulating all over Facebook and the blogosphere so this is a good time to see what Villar said to debunk her claims in her article. In this article, I’ll post Monsod’s points one at a time and match it with Villar’s responses taken from his speech.

Winnie Monsod: Since there was already an ongoing project (the MCTEP) linking C-5 to the Coastal Road, it was totally unnecessary to build a second one.

Manny Villar: The MCTEP was not rendered useless by the construction of the C5 Road Extension Project. These 2 projects are entirely separate and distinct projects. The MCTEP is a toll road, which requires payment of toll fees; while the C5 Road Extension is a public road, which allows free passage to all commuters. In other words, the C5 Road Extension is an alternative route to commuters who cannot afford to pay toll fees. The MCTEP has “limited access”, meaning it has a single entry and exit point; while the C5 Road Extension has “open access”, such that through said road commuters can access various cities and/or municipalities. Clearly, by their very nature, it is not difficult to comprehend that the 2 projects are not mutually exclusive of each other or that the C5 Road Extension is a duplicate of the MCTEP. The construction of the C5 Road Extension did not result in MCTEP becoming unnecessary as to require its being discontinued. The truth is both projects are necessary to decongest the worsening traffic condition in Paranaque, Las Piñas and Cavite. Para itong NLEX at MacArthur. Dahil po merong NLEX ay hindi na kailangan gawin yung MacArthur o dahil may MacArthur ay di na kailangan ang NLEX.

This is pretty self-explanatory. The MCTEP is a tollway road while the C5 Road Extension is for motorists who don’t want to pay for the toll fees. Also this will decongest the insane traffic.

Winnie Monsod: Which means that there was a waste of scarce resources. Instead of using only P2.6 billion of government funds for the first project, the government had to spend an additional P6.9 billion for the second, which practically duplicated the first, except for the additional length which happily for Senator Villar, traversed his properties.

Manny Villar: According to the Committee Report, the Las Piñas-Paranaque Link Road Project and the DPWH C-5 Road Extension Project were made to pass through the properties of my corporations, instead of a straight alignment. It went further to say that the alignment of the C5 Road Extension segment of the Manila Cavite Toll Expressway Project (MCTEP) of the Toll Regulatory Board has to be changed just to accommodate the alignments of the Las Piñas Paranaque Link Road Project and the DPWH C5 Road Extension Project.

These are blatant lies, Mr. President. Kasinungalingan po ito.

I did not direct, or influence, the DPWH to have the C5 Project pass through my properties. The fact is that the conceptualization, alignment, planning and execution of the said project were all done by the DPWH.

If indeed there was any re-alignment of MCTEP, it only involved a “kilometer” of said alignment. Surely, such did not cause the MCTEP to be mothballed. There is no evidence that the supposed re-alignment resulted in MCTEP becoming unnecessary as to require it to be discontinued.

As to the alleged re-alignment of the C5 Road Extension Project, it was only a slight shifting of one bridge (Bridge No. 2) in the upstream direction in order not to create conflict with the proposed alignment of the LRT Line I South Extension Project. This slight shifting of Bridge No. 2 was at the request of LRTA; and did not involve my intervention or even a request from me.

As explained in the letter dated 15 October 2008, of DPWH Regional Director Roberto G. Lala, CESO III, to DPWH Secretary Hermogenes E. Ebdane, Jr.:

“The segment of C5 Project that is described hereto is from Sucat Road to Pres. Quirino Ave. (also known as Paranaque-Las Piñas Link Road)

The project was not re-routed as it followed the original route or alignment prepared by the DPWH-NCR except for the location of one bridge (Bridge No. 2) whose centerline was slightly shifted in the upstream direction in order not to create conflict with the proposed alignment of LRT Line I South Extension Project. This was made in attention to the request of LRTA to then NCR Regional Director Salvador A. Pleyto, per letter dated Feb. 23, 2001 copy attached marked as Annex I. But even with this slight change, the 30 meters road right-of-way was still maintained. Except for such shifting of the Bridge No. 2, no more modification was made from the original alignment up to its construction phase from Sucat Road to Pres. Quirino Avenue.”

It is noteworthy that at no time during the entire adjudicatory proceedings did the complainant and counsel ever present testimonial or documentary evidence to disprove the truth and veracity of this letter of DPWH Regional Director Lala.

Again, pretty self-explanatory.

Winnie Monsod: Villar benefited tremendously from the second project. Certainly, his companies were paid significantly more per square meter for the road right of way (which were mostly bought from him). But that pales into insignificance compared with the tremendous increase in the values of his real estate holdings in the area—at least 50-52 hectares.

Manny Villar: There is an allegation that as a result of this undue advantage, the properties owned by the Villar companies are grossly overpriced. Allow me to state, for the record: zonal value is determined by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), not by senators, not by me.

There is absolutely no evidence that I ever interfered with the issuance by the BIR of the zonal valuation of the properties owned by my companies.

Sa mismong report, sinabi na ‘There is no evidence to prove the direct participation of Senator Villar in the overpricing of such properties.’

Ito ay Page 83, Paragraph 1, verbatim:

“As to the valuation of the properties of Senator Villar’s corporations that were acquired for roads-right-of-way for the Las Piñas-Parañaque Link Road Project and the DPWH C-5 Road Extension Project, although there is no evidence to prove the direct participation of Senator Villar in the overpricing of such properties, it is fair and safe to assume that Senator Villar knew about the said overpricing as his corporation stood to gain from such transactions with the government and considering the closeness of Senator Villar to Engr. Adriano who was directly involved in these transactions.”

Samakatwid, ang ibig sabihin nito – sa hinaba-haba ng kanilang mga ebidensya, halos 127 yata, ang kanilang basehan lang ay “assumption” o “yung kanilang statement” na “it is fair and safe to assume.”

Moreover, the supposed higher valuation given the Masaito property was duly explained by the same BIR officer who issued the certificates of zonal valuation for it. Former BIR-Parañaque Revenue Officer Carmelita Bacod, whom complainant Senator had subpoenaed and who issued the certification on the zonal valuation of the Masaito lots, not only verified the P30,000.00 zonal valuation for the said lots but also the P4,500.00 per square meter zonal valuation for the other lots along Sucat Road.

She explained that the other lots along Sucat Road are classified as “residential”; hence, they have a zonal valuation of only P4,500.00 per square meter. This is basic in real estate. She went on to explain further that the Masaito lots were classified as “commercial/regular,” hence, they have a zonal valuation of P30,000.00 per square meter. (TSN of 22 September 2009, 12:23pm, pp. 7-8).

The reason why the right of way fees were more expensive for the C5 properties is because most of the lots in Masaito were commercial which means it had a higher zonal valuation compared to the properties in Sucat.

Winnie Monsod: 3. This unnecessary, wasteful project was certainly Villar’s idea. It is specious to argue that it is a DPWH project. As the DPWH feasibility study states (in black and white), both the CX-5 and the LPPLP were conceived and initially funded by Villar.

Manny Villar: For the record, Mr. President, the C5 Road Project is not just my own personal project though it is one I am proud to be associated with – all of these controversies notwithstanding. This is a project of the government implemented through the Department of Public Works and Highways. Renamed the President Carlos P. Garcia Avenue, the C5 Road was conceptualized as early as 1946, and runs from Manila Bay-Malolos-Caloocan-Quezon City-Taguig/Pateros-Paranaque-Las Piñas-Cavite. It is a 51-kilometer long thoroughfare starting from Manila Bay, and goes full circle to end likewise in Manila Bay.

Of the entire stretch, 32.5 kilometers are fully developed, covering Malabon and Caloocan going all the way to Quezon City-Taguig/Pateros-Paranaque-Las Piñas. As I am an ardent supporter of development, I have been pushing for the completion of the project.

Sources: Is Manny Villar Blameless? and Privilege Speech of Sen. Manny Villar

And there you go. I applaud Senator Manny Villar for defending himself in the Senate. Personally, I would have preferred he stayed and debate with Madrigal and the others since he clearly has a good defense. It will be very interesting to see what Mareng Winnie and the rest of the Presidentiables will say about this in the coming days. I’ll definitely be monitoring it.

Disclosure from the Author: My auntie is running under the Nacionalista Party for the Senate which is headed by Senator Manny Villar. As of today I am a supporter of Senator Villar. However this does not mean I will blindly defend him. In fact I’d welcome how Winnie Monsod and the other candidates will debunk Villar’s defense.