Why Manny Villar should be President...and Personal Notes to Noynoy, Erap, and Gibo

Let’s take a closer look at Senator Manny Villar. At age 60, he has three children and is still married to his first and only wife Congresswoman Cynthia A. Villar. His three children on their own have impressive credentials, two of which having graduated from Wharton, an Ivy League University in the United States, and one still studying at Ateneo de Manila University.

Senator Villar himself holds both a Masters Degree and a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the prestigious University of the Philippines at Diliman in Quezon City and also holds several Honoris Causa Doctorate Degrees such as; Doctor of Science, Doctor of Humanities, Doctor of Development Management, Doctor of Business Administration, Doctor of Entrepreneurial Management, and Doctor of Public Administration as awarded by virtually every major educational institution in the Philippines such as; ADU, BPSC, BSU, CSU, CLSU, FU, LSPC, PSU, NEUST, RMTU, RSC, TSU, WUP, and WVCST, and has received awards for being the Most Outstanding Alumnus in 1991 and the Most Distinguished Alumnus in 2004 by the University of the Philippines.

Entering into business, Manny was always bolstered by the idea that it was better to be a business owner than it was to be an employee. He first tried his hand at supplying seafood to restaurants. After all, he had learned quite a bit about the business after helping his mother hawk fish in Quiapo. Sales were great but unfortunately his customers were not paying their bills on time if at all so he had to close the doors to this business and go back to work as an employee. Not wanting to stay an employee for long Manny went back to those restaurant owners that owed him money; he made arrangements with them to be able to sell meals in their restaurants for the amounts that they owed him. He then sold these meals to who ever would buy them. The proceeds of these sales he used to start his next venture. Long story short Manny later started supplying building materials like gravel and sand to construction companies. Soon he was himself building houses. After years of work Manny turned his company into one of the biggest home builders not just in the Philippines but in the whole of Asia. You must remember that the bulk of the houses that Manny Villar builds are for people just like you and me, the regular folk who might never have had the chance to own their own home otherwise.

Manny Villar has had a prolific career as a Public Servant. He has served the Filipino People as the Congressman from Las Pinas and Muntinlupa in the 9th, 10th, and 11th congresses ultimately serving as the Speaker of the House during his 3rd and final term as a Congressman. During the 9th Congress Manny was the House of Representatives Representative to the IMF which demonstrated his colleagues respect for his ability and expertise with regards to all things economic in nature. He is after all a qualified CPA.

Not being satisfied with what he had accomplished for the Philippines as a Congressman he set his sights on the Senate. Running on a platform of accomplishment and vision, Manny was easily elected into a Senatorial position for the 12th congress and has remained there to this day through the 13th and now 14th congresses. Just like during his time as a Congressman, Manny Villar lived up to his well known slogan, “Sipag at Tiyaga” and was able to attain the position of Senate President Pro Tempore during the 12th congress before progressing to the position of Senate President for both the 13th and 14th congresses. He was also able to Vice-Chair both the committee on Foreign Relations and the committee on Agriculture and Food as well as Chair both the committee on Finance and the committee on Public Order during the 13th congress.

It can be argued that the performance and quality of a legislator can be judged by what he has actually been able to accomplish while holding the position. Presidential Candidate Manny Villar continued his stellar performance by displaying his awareness of what the Filipino’s needs are and acting on this knowledge by crafting legislation designed to improve the lives of those that he has sworn and dedicated his adult life to serve. After 18 years as a legislator Senator Manny Villar has authored an astounding 740 Senate bills 44 of which have become law and 880 house bills 14 of which have become law. Among those laws are RA 8289 New Magna Carta for Small and Medium Enterprise, RA 9178 Barangay Micro Businesses Enterprise Act, RA 9189 Overseas Absentee Voting Act, RA 9208 Anti-Trafficking of Persons Act, RA 9257 An Act Granting Additional Benefits and Privileges to Senior Citizens, RA 9262 Anti-Violence Against Women and Children, Retail Trade Liberization Act, New Central Bank Act, New Securities Code, and the New Banking Act. Senator Villar in both his personal and political life has also understandably won numerous awards but let us just focus on his concrete personal accomplishments, those kinds of things that are recorded in history and have benefited others. Ribbons, plaques, magazine covers, and trophies are largely a result of good public relations; and the servicing of various agendas.

The Holy Bible speaks of Feast and Famine. Scripture speaks of charity and kindness to your fellow man. All things considered, what would you value more, a man who gave you a fish to eat or a man that taught you how to fish? Let’s take a closer look at some of the other activities that Manny Villar has been keeping himself busy with through the years. There is the “Sipag at Tiyaga Kaalaman” program, “Sagip-Bukas” Drug Prevention Program, “Manpower on Wheels” program, OFW Helpline, Sagip Ilog, Community Mortgage Program, Depressed Area Electrification Program, Pagtatanim sa Kinabukasan program, and the Tulong Kalusugan sa Kapwa programs. Manny Villar has demonstrated that he truly cares for his fellow Filipino and has heeded the call from within his own heart and soul to take up the yoke of public service. He has followed a well developed road-map to the position he is asking us to entrust him with. Manny Villar has completed, in an exemplary manner, all tasks put before him and is only seeking to complete his life’s work as a public servant in the next logical position for a man that has done what this man has for this Nation. Wouldn’t you want this position to go to a person that truly wants it and has programmed his life to the attainment of it or to a man that has never aspired toward much of anything? If you were to send your child to a martial arts school to learn self defense what kind of teacher would you want for your child? Bruce Lee or Tigger? (You must forgive me for the martial art correlations. I am after all a martial artist)

Speaking of Bruce Lee, ask yourself why all the other candidates are attacking Senator Manny Villar. Listen to what they say then take note of who said it and when it was said. I think you will find that those that are the loudest have something to gain by their actions; they are frequently paid hacks or political or business rivals and their supporters. Take Enrile for example. He is very quick to attack Manny. What does he have to gain? Well for starters Enrile is a re-electionist Senator, he also happens to be an Erap crony. Let’s not forget that Erap is not only a rival presidential candidate but, if you remember, Manny was also instrumental in his ouster during his previous failed stint as president. No grudges there? Hmmmm. We must also look at how Senator Lacson attacked Manny with the unfounded C5 Double Insertion allegations. (At the time Lacson himself was a presidential candidate) Interesting how not long after he made these allegations against Senator Villar did Mar Roxas testify on behalf of Lacson during a hearing regarding the Dacer/Corbito murder investigation. (Here again, do not forget that at this point in time Mar Roxas was himself as presidential aspirant) For some reason I think that Lacson will suddenly come back to the Philippines if Noynoy and Mar were to by some miracle win on May 10. To Manny Villar’s credit he has said that he does not mind all the negative media that has surrounded his candidacy. He realizes that Black propaganda is the norm in Philippine Politics especially when seen through the eyes of a media machine that is largely beholding to a particular candidate for various quite obvious reasons. It is this bias that he laments, “Why do the media mention certain issues about other candidates then immediately discredit these issues as black propaganda but when it comes to me they present it as the truth or some kind of expose.” Why would big media do this? What would they have to gain? Let us not look at what they have to gain but what they have gained already. History will tell us that the Lopez’ media holdings that had been sequestered by Ferdinand Marcos had been returned to them by Cory Aquino during her stay in Malacanang. Interesting right? I still remember the Inquirer the morning after Ondoy hit the Philippines. The huge picture on the front page showed Noynoy and Mar Roxas smiling and flashing the Laban gang sign while campaigning in the south of the Philippines. This huge picture sat next to a small side bar story about 40 plus people being killed in the storm. (We later learned that so many more than 40 people died during that natural disaster.) Sad right?

Look at the kinds of things that are being mentioned with regards to Villar. There is the C5 road issue, the he is not really from a poor background issue, spending too much money on the campaign issue, among other nonsense trivial issues. (Funny that nobody accuses Villar of being incompetent or that he wasted the votes given to him to make him a Senator or Congressman or that he is a drunk or a womanizer) Ask anybody that actually uses the “useless” road if they do not value its existence. Ask most of these other candidates if they have ever truly experienced the life of a person that lives life hand to mouth everyday? Many of us would not be able to pay our rent next month if we missed a week of work this month much less had a close relative fall ill. All the serious candidates have spent near the 1billion peso mark and more at this point in the campaign, ask yourself who can actually afford it without owing to large special interest donors. Sometimes we do not appreciate the grandeur of things. We must remember that Manny Villar is a BILLIONAIRE. Let us assume that he makes 10% interest (to make the math easy) on 1,000,000,000.00 per year. That would be 100,000,000.00 per year or 8,333,333.33 a month. Don’t forget that his business interests are still pumping funds into the bank on a daily basis in addition to whatever interest his money earns. Let’s face it; Manny Villar does not need to become President to become wealthy or powerful. In fact, judging by his past performance, he has never rested on his laurels but has worked as hard at serving the Filipino people as he has in building his personal empire. There are after all certain people in the Senate that have personally authored pitifully few bills, let alone have actually had legislation enacted into law, in fact, NONE of the other so called “Presidentiables” has the legislative track record that Manny Villar has and at least three of them have never even been legislators. Sad to say that there are at least two presidential candidates that have almost criminally wasted the mandate afforded to them by the people that voted them into office. You can see for yourself HERE. Senator Villar truly believes that he can do for the Philippines what he has accomplished in his own life if given the position and the responsibility to do so. Manny Villar has never squandered a single vote entrusted to him by the voting community in any of his elected positions. It is unlikely that he will start now in this most crucial of times in Philippine history considering the position he is asking that you entrust him with. Many great men have aspired to awesome things but have been dragged back down into the mud with those that could not dream as big. It appears that the CRAB is alive and well even today in our country. For once let’s just eat the CRAB and lift Manny Villar to the presidency so that he can reach out and pull us one by one out of the mud into the sunlight where we too can dream big.

“Nothing ventured nothing gained”. Have you heard this before? Whether in politics, business, or just run of the mill life, if you never try anything you will never accomplish anything. I remember being told by a mentor of mine that a big bruise that I had just gotten on the outside of my thigh was a badge of distinction. You see I got the bruise attempting a kind of martial arts kick that I had never tried before. My mentor told me that the bruise showed that I actually did something and was trying to make myself better. Sometimes you have to take the good with the bad. In the end you come out ahead. I could eventually do that kick quite well. There are other kinds of bruises that I got growing up that did not end up as I would have liked but I benefited just the same. I have gotten my heart broken more than once by childhood crushes but I now have a great wife and wonderful children. Nobody attains what Manny Villar has without both getting bruised and causing a few bruises himself. In the end he has become what he is today. They say that there are three kinds of people in the world. Those that make things happen, the kind that watches things happen, and the kind that does not know what the hell just happened. Manny Villar is a man that does and will always make things happen. He has never been a watcher, and most certainly has never been the man who asked, “What the hell just happened”.

There are other candidates of course. Each with his own set of accomplishments. If you sat down and wrote down all those accomplishments and then placed them side by side on a sheet of paper, (just happened to have that info right HERE) it is very clear that Manny Villar is the right man for the job TODAY. When President Manny Villar leaves office in 2016 I believe that GIBO TEODORO will be the right man to continue what was started by Manny during his 6 years in office, but only if he serves the people first as a senator and shows us that he is indeed his own man and can legislate as effectively as he talks.

For the most part the other candidates all bring something to the table. Like I stated earlier, each candidate has their own accomplishments which tread the line of their respective strengths. Fortunately for us, the Office of the President is not run by committee. There can be only one. (To borrow a line from Highlander) That person must embody the most qualities expected of a world leader. These others, while very capable, fall short when all the required qualifications are being considered, but as a group, have some undeniable character and potential. So to Gordon, Villanueva, Perlas, and DelosReyes, if I could scrunch you all into one person I could quite possibly put you into the position that I placed Gibo. I would dub you Gordonueva Perlosreyes. (Has a nice ring to it actually. Sounds like a Spanish soap star.)

Erap I respect you for the candid answers that you so freely throw out when asked some admittedly tricky questions. When asked about “other women” you freely admit “of course”. When asked about gambling you talk about legalizing jueteng as being one of your first acts if elected president. These do not strike me as the statements of a role model for our countries youth. I have trouble with statements from you like; “I want my power back” and “I want to be king again”. Erap, the fact is that you quite freely and openly spent hundreds of millions of your “share” of illegal gambling proceeds. The mess that exists with regards to the abuses in Customs is a direct result of your own meddling with that proverbial cash cow. The fact remains that you were removed as president once. If you “got off” it was due to technicalities and agenda. The highest office in the land is a yolk of service to the people not a throne of personal glory and vindication. The promises of public service that you spoke of when you were given your pardon should have remained the focus of your intentions. Let it go and be free.

Jamby, Jamby, Jamby......................................................Jamby.

Finally Noynoy, I want to reserve the deepest of what I would like to say to you, for the most part I consider you a VICTIM. Frequently I speak of agenda. You are a victim of that word. The Liberal party saw in your mother’s death an opportunity, an opportunity to place somebody in the Presidents Office. I actually believe that the spark of the idea that you could be president was actually hashed before Cory’s death. Certain vile individuals knowing that she would pass on due to her failing health had to consider what their options were. They knew that the battle for the presidency was not in the bag. Senator Villar, New Money, and not a member of the club, had already thrown in is hat by announcing that he was running. The thorn in their side was that they did not know when she would die. Mar was the logical and better choice for them. Once Cory died, and since Mar was not as strong in the polls, as they would have liked him to be, they hashed the plan to use what was left of Cory magic to place a ringer as the President of the Philippines. They just needed proof that the magic still lived. Cory’s funeral provided that proof and now here you are. Think about it Noynoy, your camp is already fighting over 2016 and you have not even been elected yet. The facts speak for themselves; you have repeatedly wasted the mandate given you by your voters each time you have been placed into office. Your record speaks loudly and it speaks clearly, but I am not able to blame even this squarely on your shoulders. I am not sure you are actually capable of accomplishing more than you have with your life. You might well be functioning at the outer limits of your capacity. I am sure your intellect is off the charts. I can see a quiet brilliance buried deep within your eyes. It is just that within those same eyes there seems to be a raging battle for control. What are you fighting with? Noynoy you must remember that it is impossible to fight FOR anything if you are in a battle WITH yourself. How can you serve the Filipino people if you are struggling with some secret inner Demon? I see you as a babe in the woods with a pack of wolves leading you back to their den. I hope you know plenty of tricks for their entertainment because as soon as they get bored with you I shudder to think what will happen. I sincerely wish the best for you…but not as the president of this fine nation.