Cynthia Villar may file charges over viral video of incident with subdivision guards
MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Cynthia Villar said Wednesday she is contemplating charges over a video that went viral on social media showing her losing her temper at guards of a subdivision in Las Piñas.
Villar said she is "consulting" her lawyer about possible charges against the unnamed person who took the video of the incident that occurred last Monday and uploaded it on social media, adding that she found it to be malicious.
The video, which Villar said was of an incident that occurred last Monday, showed the senator shouting at security guards and even pulling the arm of one of them. At one point, she used a homophobic slur to describe one of the guards as a man appealed not to hurt him.
From VIllar’s recounting of events, she was asking guards to remove the gate that blocked the composting facility inside the subdivision which led to the altercation.
"I was talking to them to remove the gate because that composting facility is for the public. And they don’t want to. They’re arguing with me. But I guess they have plenty of security guards, I’m alone," Villar said.
She insisted that she did not have an outburst. "They’re just inventing that. There’s no outburst. I was just telling them to remove the gate because it’s for public use. It’s not for me. I don’t need that."
The senator also doubled down on her use of a homophobic slur, saying "there’s something wrong" with the security guard whom she confronted.
"There’s something wrong with him. He’s a security guard. He has a gun in his holster. What will I say? Will I be able to hurt him? That’s so brave of me. He’s so huge and I’m so little," Villar—a senator whose sister-in-law is Las Piñas mayor, whose daughter represents the city at the House and whose son is also a senator—said.
Asked if she deems an apology is necessary, the senator said: "I will go to court."
Dispute over 'Friendship Route'
Villar speculated that the incident may have been "planned" by leaders of the homeowners’ association of BF Resort Village, whom she said she has "encountered problems" with since she and other Las Piñas residents won a court order temporarily stopping the subdivision from blocking access to a street part of the city’s Friendship Route.
Established in 1995 through an ordinance, the Friendship Route cuts through several subdivisions, including BFRV, in Las Piñas to provide motorists living in the city an alternate route to the congested Alabang-Zapote Road.
"They were given a (temporary restraining order,) so the BF Resort Village cannot [stop people from] using the Friendship Route," Villar said.
She added partly in Filipino: "Maybe they got angry at me because that will bring down their income because they’re charging P2,500 per sticker while the Friendship Sticker is free for Las Piñas residents."
Villar said she is also mulling charges over other acts allegedly committed by BFRV’s homeowners’ association.
These include removing signages that it must honor the Friendship Sticker, preventing her from building an impounding facility for stray cats and dogs, fencing and blocking access to her composting facility and removing a tarpaulin welcoming her to a party organized by the association.
"I have already consulted my lawyers and instructed them to study the appropriate cases and actions in addition to the complaint which they granted me a TRO," she said.
She added, "I don’t want people to remember me as a senator who just kept quiet. I want to be remembered as someone who will fight for what is right and what is good for the people."
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