Jamby testifies in ethics probe

MANILA, Philippines - Sen. Jamby Madrigal yesterday accused Sen. Manuel Villar Jr. and his wife Las Piñas Rep. Cynthia Villar of reaping millions from the windfall of a number of their properties, which they mortgaged to a family-owned bank and used as collateral at the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

During the continuation of the ethics proceedings against Villar, Madrigal said the couple gained a total of P281 million out of three properties loaned to Capitol Bank.

Madrigal also revealed the Villar couple was granted a P3.5-billion loan by the BSP for which they used the three properties as collateral.  

She said the properties came from Enrique Factor, Maria Rodriguez and Iluminada Rodriguez.

Madrigal claimed she has possession of the official documents showing that the Villar-owned companies Adelfa Properties and Link Holdings bought a 37,788-square-meter land from Enrique Factor for P11 million.

Ten days after the transaction, the land was mortgaged by the two companies to the Villar-owned Capitol Development Bank for P100 million. The amount was released on the same day, she said.

In another transaction, the same companies acquired a 23,703-square-meter land from Maria Rodriguez for P11.3 million, and mortgaged the same also for P100 million to Capitol Bank.

A third transaction involved a 23,474-square-meter land from Iluminada Rodriguez, which Adelfa and Link Holdings bought for P18.799 million and mortgaged for P81.5 million also to Capitol Bank.

Madrigal though failed to mention the exact date of the transactions and the exact location of the lots, saying only they were located along the route of the C-5 extension project.

“This is the reason why after the Villar couple got the money, the Capitol Bank went bankrupt. They earned P281 million from their own bank,” Madrigal said.

Madrigal alleged the three properties were part of the Villar properties that traversed the C-5 road extension project, for which Sen. Villar is being investigated for ethical misconduct.

Where’s the beef?

“That’s her (Madrigal’s) declaration. We will look into these if there were contradictory evidence,” Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile said.

After the hearing, Enrile noted that Madrigal’s testimonies on events which transpired in 1999 have nothing to do with Villar’s conduct since he was not yet a senator then.

“That is a part of the whole story,” Enrile pointed out.

“We will just determine whether the statements of Senator Madrigal are true in fact and that’s why we want to ask the Central Bank people if indeed the documents submitted by the good senator are corroborated by their records,” he said.

Enrile, a veteran lawyer, explained the act of borrowing money from a bank at that time would not be taken as a part of the accusations against Villar since he was then not yet a senator.

Madrigal is the complainant in an ethics case against Villar, the former Senate president, stemming from the allegations made by Sen. Panfilo Lacson.

Lacson revealed Villar had used his influence as Senate president to reinsert an allocation in the national budget to finance a road project in an apparent attempt to benefit the housing projects in Las Piñas and Parañaque City that he owns.

Madrigal added Villar’s efforts forced the government to make the new C-5 road alignments for an additional P4.2 billion to lengthen the road by 3.4 kilometers.

She said the original C-5 road project cost was P2.7 billion.

Enrile said the Senate would hold a separate hearing and summon officials of the BSP and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

“(This is) to show that the properties involved are actually part of the C-5 road right of way and those were actually assigned to them,” he said.

Enrile said the Senate would focus on the reasons why there were two road projects and why the original project was scrapped.

Irrelevant

Lawyer Adel Tamano and former Cavite congressman Gilbert Remulla came to Villar’s defense, claiming Madrigal’s explanations to support the complaint were irrelevant to the issue.

“Because those transactions happened sometime in 2001 to 2004 and it has no bearing or relevance on the ethical qualifications of Senator Villar in 2007 or this Senate,” Tamano pointed out.

“In (Madrigal’s) complaint, there was no complaint about Capitol Bank. It talks about other things…the frightening thing is that they might just start to dig things up from way, way back,” he added.

Tamano described Madrigal’s testimony as “a total dud” while Remulla said the lady senator was lying.

Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago shared the opinion that the Senate should just drop the case because the complainant, Madrigal, has declared her intent to run as president.

“I doubt very much if any decision of any nature will be accepted by the public at face value,” she said.

On the other hand, Villar, through his legal counsel Nalen Galang said the Capitol Bank transactions with the BSP are all legal, aboveboard and in full compliance with all applicable banking laws.

Of the three properties mentioned in the hearing, only two are related to BSP, Galang pointed out.

Villar also lamented the ethics hearing had turned into a political circus aimed at destroying his chances for the presidency in 2010.

“Where can you find that a senator is also the complainant, judge and fiscal. She has also become the constitutional expert,” Villar said in a press conference.

Villar branded Madrigal’s accusations as “all lies,” noting that the C-5 issue has been dragging for one year now and nothing has come out of it.

He added Madrigal’s declaration to run for president revealed the true motive behind her expose.

Enrile, on the other hand, said Madrigal’s presidential bid would not affect the ethics complaint.

“But if they (Villar and defense) will not cross-examine her, the chair cannot recognize that fact,” Enrile added.