Madrigal bares pieces of evidence against Villar

(Updated 4:11 p.m.) MANILA, Philippines - Senator Ma. Ana Consuelo Madrigal on Monday presented before the Senate committee of the whole pieces of evidence against Senator Manuel Villar Jr. to show how he and his wife, Rep. Cynthia Villar, and his properties allegedly benefited from the C5 road project. Madrigal testified on the complaint she filed against Villar using a powerpoint presentation and being questioned by her counsel, lawyer Ernesto Francisco. In testifying, Madrigal said she believed that it is her duty to file a complaint against a colleague whom she thinks violated the law and manifested unethical conduct. "If the committee will find substance in my complaint, the respondent should be given a sanction and a case be filed against him before the court," Madrigal told the committee at the start of her presentation. She accused Villar of causing the realignment of C5 road extension project to benefit properties registered in the name of corporations he and his family owned and controlled. There was also supposedly a conflict of interest on Villar’s part when he failed to divest himself of interest in corporations whose properties were acquired by the government for road right of way for the Las Piñas-Paranaque road. He was also accused of allegedly making an insertion of P200 million in the Republic Act 9498 or the General Appropriations Act of 2008 for the construction of the C5 extension from South Luzon Expressway to Sucat Road including the right of way when such project is already covered in the same law with the same amount. Madrigal said that she only became familiar of the C5 road controversy after Senator Panfilo Lacson revealed the supposed double insertion of funds for the said road project. "I proceeded [with] more research and found more wrongdoing of Villar," Madrigal said. She presented a toll operation agreement dated July 20, 1996 between the government, through the Public Estate Authority (PEA) and private Malaysian company UEM Mara for the construction of the Manila-Cavite Toll expressway. The said agreement was approved by then President Fidel Ramos. She then showed maps of the original C5 project, which is a direct route from South Luzon Expressway to Coastal Road, and the realigned road project, which became a crooked road to pass through Las Piñas and Parañaque and traverse lands of “favored" businessmen. She said that because of the request of powerful businessmen including Mariano Velarde, president of Amvel Land Development Corporation, SM Holdings Properties and Adelfa Properties Inc, owned by Villar, the project was realigned. She presented a letter signed by representatives of Amvel, SM Holdings and Adelfa to the Toll Regulatory Board asking for the realignment of the C5 road project. The letter read: "We are submitting herewith the final C5 road alignment, together with the area computation in accordance with our previous understanding for your immediate approval and implementation." On April 27, 1998, Benjamin de Leon, appointments secretary of former President Ramos, sent a memorandum to the then President recommending the realignment of the road project. Ramos approved the realignment on April 28, 1998 with a note to then Public Works Secretary Virgilio Vigilar to fast track the remaining issues in order to alleviate the heavy traffic congestion in the area. Madrigal said Velarde, SM and Villar benefited from the realignment because it increased the value of their properties. One of the letters from the Department of Public Works and Highway presented stated that: "The realignment necessitated the revision of the plans and drawings for the said interchange. It also required a reassessment of the properties affected by the said realignment." She said that because of the realignment, three properties of Villar with a total area of 21,730 square meters were 'affected'. She said another property of Villar with a lot area of 70,183 square meters was traversed by the realigned project. Madrigal also presented a general information sheet of Adelfa Properties Inc for 2001 showing that Villar owned 52 percent of the company while his wife Rep Cynthia Villar owned 42 percent of it. The document came from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). "100 percent ang pag-aari ng mag-asawa sa Adelfa Properties Inc [The Villar couple owned 100 percent of the company]," Madrigal said. She also presented a profile of the project from DPWH which showed that the Villar couple were the proponent of the road project which has a total length of 2,177 kilometers. The document showed that the total cost of the civil works and road right of way is P710.97 million. It also showed that among the problems encountered on the project were the revision of the plans/realignment and the road right of way. Ocular inspection It said the actions taken were "a revised alignment was approved and the city government of Las Pinas together with the staff of the proponents have negotiated with the lot owners affected with the road right of way." It was at this point that Lacson moved for the conduct of an ocular inspection on the area. "I move that the committee conduct an ocular inspection in that area for a better appreciation by the members of the committee of the whole," Lacson said. Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, committee chair, approved the motion but is yet to set an exact date for it. "We will probably do that after the recess because I do not intend to call a hearing during the recess," Enrile told reporters later. The Senate and House of Representatives will adjourn their sessions on June 5 and will resume on July 27. Madrigal also said the government paid P13,300 per square meter for the land owned by Villar which was affected by the road construction. While the payment for other lands affected by the road construction ranged from P1,000 to 4,000 per square meter. Madrigal said of the 39 lots affected, 16 were owned by Villar. She said the government paid Villar P136.8 million affected lots and is still about to collect P84.6 million. She also said the Villars sold their lands to the government despite the fact that it had already been acquired by a bank due to mortgage. She said the lands owned by Adelfa Properties were mortgaged to Capitol Development Bank, which was also owned by the Villars. She said Capitol Bank sold these properties to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. She said Villar received money for the lands which were no longer his. Villar and his allies snubbed the proceedings while waiting for the Supreme Court action on their petition seeking to stop the Senate committee of the whole form undertaking the trial of the former Senate President. GMANews.TV