American fighter planes flying above the USS Missouri following the official signing of the Japanese surrender, putting an end to WWII.
September 2, 1945 - 66 years ago today
Amazing!
Ikaw na ang tunay na mahirap!
Was Manny Villar really ever poor? AS I WRECK THIS CHAIR
By William M. Esposo
The Philippine Star 2010-02-07 “Nakaligo ka na ba sa dagat ng basura? (Have you bathed in a sea of garbage?)” is the opening line of the jingle of Nacionalista Party presidential candidate Manny Villar which is featured in a television commercial that attempts to project him as having been one of the poorest of the poor. But was Manny Villar really one of the poorest of the poor as what his advertising has been projecting? A Chair Wrecker reader from Tondo who claimed to know the Villar family when they still resided there debunked that notion of Villar ever having been poor. This information was relayed to yours truly via our response email address. The former Villar family Tondo neighbor cited reference points to support his assertion that Manny Villar was never really poor — including the claim that Villar’s father used to have a “nikaladong (stainless steel clad)” private Jeep. During the 1950s, a nikaladong private Jeep is a status symbol in Tondo, definitely not the hallmark of a poor household. Considering how Manny Villar has been dodging the serious issues pertaining to his use of public office in order to add immense benefits and profits to his businesses, your Chair Wrecker decided to do some investigating. Guess what Manny Villar’s online bio revealed: “Manuel Villar Jr. was born on December 13, 1949 in Tondo, a densely populated district of Manila. He was the second of nine children of Manuel Villar Sr., a government employee, and Curita Bamba, a seafood dealer. As a young boy, he helped his mother sell fish, crabs, and shrimp in Divisoria to help earn money to pay for his education. Villar finished his education at Holy Child Catholic School in 1962, and finished his high school education at Mapua Institute of Technology in 1966. He attended the University of the Philippines-Diliman and earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration in 1970. He returned to the same school to earn his master’s degree in business administration in 1973.” In the early 1950s, the rich lived in the big compounds in Ermita and Pasay and what was called New Manila in Quezon City. In Tondo, you found the middle class and the poor as well. Former president Joseph Estrada also claims roots in Tondo but his family was never poor. Based on his online bio, Villar cannot really justify calling himself poor. The Villar Tondo home, as shown on his 2009 TV commercials, was made of sturdy materials. It has lasted to this day. His father was employed while his mother operated a fish, crab and shrimp dealership in lucrative Divisoria Market. It may not be Class AB household income but it is definitely not Class E. Proof that the Villar children were never really wanting is the fact that Manny Villar studied in private schools. The indigent kids went to public school. Enrolling one’s child in a private school is a middle class value and option. The indigent kids who do manage to finish high school would tend to immediately learn a craft in order to be able to earn money right away. Aspiring for a business administration master’s degree is not the usual post high school move of indigent kids. Villar narrated on his 2009 TV commercial, with Boy Abunda interviewing him, that as a young kid he thought that corned beef was soupy because that was how they used to prepare it at home. This, he claimed, was their way to ensure that everybody had a share. But the fact is that there are really two ways to cook canned corned beef. One is the dry sautéed type while the other is the soupy type where you can add potatoes and cabbage. Both the rich and the middle class enjoy corned beef both ways. Also, poor folks, especially a family of eleven, CANNOT AFFORD to eat canned corned beef. For a family of 11 to be eating corned beef confirms that the Villar family is anything but poor. That was the case then and more so now when the poor go hungry or manage to eat only one meal a day. Up to the 1980s, people from the provinces consider it a status symbol to be eating corned beef. That is why canned foodstuffs, especially corned beef, are being displayed in the sala by many households in the provinces for these to be seen by visitors. For Manny Villar to don this facade of being “poor” once upon a time just to gain political advantage should make every Filipino voter ponder as to what else he would be willing to do just to attain his objective.
Manny’s Enchanted Kingdom
mlq3:
Written by Manuel Buencamino / Dispatches from the Enchanted Kingdom/Business Mirror
WEDNESDAY, 26 JANUARY 2010Slander is the revenge of the coward, and dissimulation his defense.—Samuel Johnson
Afriend sent me a text that said, “GMA plundered when she became president. Manny Villar is only a candidate but he already took a cash advance.”
I called her up, demanding an explanation.She said the draft report of the Senate Committee of the Whole recommended censure for Senator Villar and asked him to return all the money “he has or his companies have illegally gained or obtained as a result of unlawful acts and improper and unethical conduct.”
She sounded pleased so I reminded her that Sen. Alan Cayetano said the report is a worthless piece of paper until the majority upholds it.
She replied, “Then why are Villar and company trying to prevent it from being discussed in the plenary, why is Sen. Joker Arroyo raising a prejudicial question à la Rep. Edcel Lagman preventing evidence from being presented at Gloria Arroyo’s impeachment?”
“Even Enrile admitted there was no direct evidence against Villar,” I said, quoting Senator Santiago.
“Read the report, you will see that what Enrile actually said was, ‘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 corporations stood to gain from such transactions with the government and considering the closeness of Senator Villar to Engr. Adriano who was directly involved in thesetransactions’” (www.scribd.com/doc/25470164/Enrile-Committee-Report).
“Who is Engineer Adriano?” I asked.
“He’s the guy, according to the sworn testimony of Atty. Yolanda Doblon, director general of the Legislative Budget Monitoring Office, who dictated to her amendments to the 2008 national budget while Villar looked on. He’s an executive of the Villar-owned companies that benefited from the amendments.”
“The P200-million insertion?”
“Yup.”
“Was C-5 really realigned?”
“The original plan for C-5 was done during the time of Marcos. C-5 extension was supposed to link South Super Highway to Coastal Road in a straight line but Villar managed to get the original plan revised so that C-5 extension would wind through his property.”“What’s wrong with that?” I asked.
“Nothing wrong if a private citizen proposed the realignment, but Villar did it as a member of Congress.”
“Let’s go back to the overprice. Villar insists he did nothing illegal because it was the BIR [Bureau of Internal Revenue] district revenue officer of Parañaque, not him, who priced his property.”
“Carmelita R. Bacod of the BIR said she gave a high zonal valuation for Villar’s property because it would be beneficial for her agency’s collection purposes,” she explained.
“What?”
‘‘That’s exactly how the committee reacted. Bacod eventually apologized for the overprice and admitted that what she did was grossly disadvantageous to the government,” she replied.
“That’s the no-direct evidence Senator Santiago referred to?”
“Yes, if you believe Villar’s employee, Engineer Adriano, had nothing to do with Bacod’s error in judgment,” she replied.
“But Villar said he has not been paid.”
“Not exactly true. He has been paid for a lot of those pieces of property, although some remain unpaid.”
She added, “Do you think his pork barrel was going to pay for road construction only?”
“You mean his pork barrel would also fund overpriced right-of-way payments for his property?”
“Read the report,” she replied.
“Villar said he does not know where the P6.2-billion figure came from.”
“That amount is itemized in the report he’s trying to keep from the public.”
I replied, “But Villar said it was a one-sided report, he had no witnesses, no lawyers. He called the committee a kangaroo court.”“A kangaroo court? He was given all the chances to present his side, to bring in lawyers, witnesses and evidence to prove his innocence. He never did. He refused to man up and refute the allegations of Senator Madrigal. That’s why Enrile called him a coward.”
“He defended himself in the media and in advertisements,” I argued.
“Yes, in venues where he was not under oath, where he was in no danger of being charged with perjury.”
“Do you really think he is guilty?”
“Read the report, it’s only 84 pages. If, after reading it, you still believe he was unjustly persecuted, that everything he and his allies said about the committee and its report are true, then Jason Ivler was set up by the CIA and Andal Ampatuan Jr. was framed by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.”
