Villars had nothing to do with appointment as PCOO chief, Andanar says

MANILA, Philippines – Sen. Cynthia Villar and incoming press secretary Martin Andanar himself on Tuesday clarified that the Villar family had nothing to do with his appointment to the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO).

Villar and Andanar were asked about the appointment in separate interviews since Andanar’s wife Alelee Aguilar Andanar is the daughter of Villar’s brother Las Piñas Mayor Vergel “Nene” Aguilar. 

“I can look straight into your eyes... sa buong sambayanan na wala pong kinalaman dito sina Senator Manny Villar at sina Senator Cynthia Villar,” Andanar said in a radio interview on DZMM.

He disclosed that his connection with President-elect Rodrigo Duterte started when he and his colleague Erwin Tulfo started promoting the president-elect on their radio program since 2013, when crimes such as riding in tandem became rampant. He said he built a rapport with Duterte’s executive assistant Christopher Bong Go through that program as well.

“If you listen to our program, we’ve been very consistent in promoting and saying that Mayor Duterte is the solution to the crime in our country so tuloy-tuloy yan [pag-promote naming kay Mayor],” Andanar said, adding he is not from Davao City but hails from Cagayan de Oro and Surigao City.

He added that, because of the radio program, Duterte’s ally approached him to extend the president-elect's gratitude and that paved the way for his exclusive interview with Duterte on March 15, 2015 which was aired on his podcast.

He clarified that Duterte camp had no idea he was related with the Villars. He said that the president-elect knew his father as they were both appointed during the administration of President Corazon “Cory” Aquino.

“As in wala, they never knew the connection [to the Villars]. I can tell you honestly wala talaga,” Martin said.

Andanar’s appointment to PCOO

Asked how he was appointed to the PCOO, Andanar said he told incoming Cabinet Secretary Jun Evasco, who is also mayor of Maribojoc, Bohol, about his police proposal for the president-elect. He said he had a connection with Evasco as his grandmother is also from Bohol.

Evasco then asked him to put his proposal on paper and Go later asked him to fly to Davao and present his proposal to Duterte.

“Pinakita ko sa kanya yung proposal  tapos at the same time mayroon din akong dalang resume kasi nga, I really want to serve the government because I can feel and see that change will really come and I wanted to be part of that change.  I do not want to be an observer,” Andanar said, adding Duterte then asked him to head the Communications group.

Villar family’s influence to Duterte’s Cabinet appointments

Meanwhile, Sen. Villar also said that the family had nothing to do with Andanar's and her son incoming Public Works Secretary Mark Villar's appointment to the Duterte Cabinet.

“Hindi. Taga Mindanao iyon. We have nothing to do with that. Maski iyong kay Mark it did not come from us, it came from him. Hindi nga namin ini-expect na Public Works. Iyon ang gusto niya,” Villar said in an interview released Tuesday.

The appointment has been criticized because of the Villar family's interests in real estate development. In 2009, the Senate investigated allegations that Senate President Manuel Villar used his influence to have the C-5 Road Extension Project realigned to favor his real estate business. The Senate quietly forgot about the investigation after the 2010 elections, which Villar lost.

Sen. Villar said Andanar can contribute to building a good relationship between government media and the local media since he will handle agencies that deal with public information such as People’s Television Network, Philippine Information Agency, Radyo ng Bayan and the Philippines News Agency.