Manny Villar’s cardinal sins

The media blitzkrieg mounted by presidential candidate Manny Villar in the last quarter of 2009 is the most expensive marketing campaign ever undertaken by any political candidate. Based on data released by Nielsen Media Research, Villar splurged P543 million for advertising, mostly for television, making him the biggest spender on political ads. His expenditures are bigger than San Miguel Beer, arguably a top advertiser that knows how its world famous brew benefits from endorsements from the likes of Manny Pacquiao.

No doubt Villar’s advertising spending spree helped boost his image as a poor-boy-from-Tondo-who-made-it-big leader now seeking to share his success with the nation’s poor. He’s made use of different marketing ploys to paint a picture of a successful man armed with the right stuff to fight poverty and lift the economy from the doldrums. This enabled him to draw even with front-runner Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III of the Liberal Party in the latest Pulse Asia survey.

But will massive advertising erase the many cardinal sins that Villar has committed in his rise to fame and wealth? Will the same crafty marketing strategy propel him to victory at the polls? Will product packaging deceive millions of Filipino voters into believing he is the man for Malacanang?

These questions leap to the Filipino mind especially after a privilege speech of Senator Joker Arroyo, now one of Villar’s staunch defenders in the Senate, delivered shortly after losing the Speakership fight in 1998, spread like wildfire on cyberspace these last several days. In that speech, Arroyo detailed a long list of crimes committed by Villar involving abuse and misuse of his position as legislator to help his businesses grow and even salvage a floundering bank. I also found a special report filed by reporter Jerry Esplanada of the Philippine Daily Inquirer entitled “Dream homes on farm lands” on the Internet http://www.afrim.org.ph/Archives/1998/Philippine%20Daily%20Inquirer/July/Dream%20homes%20on%20farmlands.htmshowing the wanton violations committed by Villar’s companies in turning first-class irrigated rice lands into subdivisions.

Arroyo’s privilege speech and the PDI special report paint a frightening picture of a greedy businessman who openly pushed laws that would ultimately favor his businesses. It shows the true character of a man who had no qualms transgressing the CARP law, erasing productive rice fields from the rural landscape and displacing tenants from their plots for the sake of profit. The reader will just begin to understand why rice production in the country is declining. Ordinarily, such a man would have landed in jail long ago, but just because he is a Senator, he has been able to hold back the arms of the law.

Now this man is seeking the Presidency of the country.

Manny Villar has left a long trail of corruption and crime in the path to Malacanang. The C-5 scandal is the climax of this incessant abuse of power that shows how bad corruption can be. The television report filed by Ricky Carandang on ABS-CBN leaves no doubt who benefited from the project Villar had stealthily pushed. Go to this link to watch the report <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTl_No39TQM>. Winnie Monsod also made an excellent presentation on the C-5 controversy with cutting edge clarity <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DttxE2qsGeU>.

No wonder Villar is spending money for advertising like there’s no tomorrow. Apparently, he wants to deodorize his image just so he can reach the pinnacle of power. Once there, he can consolidate his businesses and rule the country like a king. He is rolling the dice with all his money on the table, knowing that he’s been able to rake in huge profits so far, and he can win the pot money on May 10, 2010 with his bold moves.

Villar has eluded attempts to get him to answer the issues for so long. Twelve years ago, he stymied the efforts of then Makati City congressman Joker Arroyo to have the House of Representatives convened as a committee of the whole to judge Villar on the serious charges leveled at him. At the Senate last week, Villar has once again pulled a Houdini act of freeing himself from certain censure from his colleagues. Can Villar continue to sidestep the truth until the May 10, 2010 elections? Only the Filipino electorate can make that decision.

How Villar enriched himself from the viewpoint of Joker Arroyo

I am sharing this link to an old privilege speech delivered by Joker Arroyo detailing how then Speaker Manny Villar exploited his position as Speaker of the House of Representatives to advance his business and financial interests:

http://www.malayanghalalan.com/2010/01/26/joker-arroyo-raises-issue-of-accountability-of-public-officers-against-manny-villar/

Blood in his hands

The testimony of Buluan vice mayor Toto Mangudadatu about how then Defense Secretary Gibo Teodoro warned him about the savage character of the Ampatuans and his attempt to dissuade the Maguindanao politician from pursuing his plan to run for Governor is damning and clear proof that the presidential candidate is guilty of a grave sin of omission.

At the time, Teodoro was still in a position to prevent violence from breaking out in Maguindanao. As defense secretary, he possessed the power to disarm the Ampatuans and douse cold water on their violent nature. Teodoro carried the weight of the entire government, and if only he made use of his much-vaunted “galing at talino”, he could have averted the Maguindanao massacre. He could have demonstrated a political will to stop warlordism and make sure the true will of the people is not frustrated by armed might.

How did GT (“galing at talino”) respond to the situation? He allowed the Ampatuans to keep their weapons arsenal and barbaric private army. He did nothing to check the violent character of the administration allies — the Ampatuans — to kill those who displeased them. He didn’t make sure that the rule of law prevailed over Maguindanao. Worse, he attempted to dissuade Mangudadatu not to run as Governor and avoid a direct confrontation with the Ampatuans.

Is this the kind of leadership that Gibo Teodoro now wants to foist upon the nation? Teodoro cannot now escape culpability for what happened. He is responsible for the massacre of the 57 victims. Their blood stains his hands. No matter what he does, he cannot erase the ugly images of the dead bodies dumped into mass graves. Even if the death penalty in still allowed, and Andal Ampatuan is sentenced to die by lethal injection, there is just no way Gibo can assuage the pain in the hearts of the victims’ families and friends.

In other cultures, the Maguindanao massacre would have caused heads to roll in the halls of government. Those officials who neglected to prevent such a carnage from happening take responsibility and resign in disgrace. Gibo Teodoro was no longer defense secretary when the massacre took place. But he had it in his power to prevent it and he didn’t. The least he could do is take the blame. He should place the shame and disgrace upon his shoulders.