Wife defends Villar in Senate ethics case

MANILA, Philippines - The wife of embattled senator Manuel "Manny" Villar Jr. on Tuesday broke her silence with regards to allegations that they benefited from the government-funded C5 road extension project. In an interview over GMA News' "Unang Hirit," Las Piñas City Rep. Cynthia Villar said she and her husband were able to establish themselves even before they entered politics so there is no reason for them to find ways to illegally benefit from such projects. "Wala naman kaming intention na makinabang sa gobyerno. Kami naman ay hardworking couple. Nung bata pa kami, nagtatrabaho na kami at nakapagpundar naman kami bago kami pumasok sa public service so hindi naman namin kailangan 'yan," she said. [We have no intention of benefiting from the government. We are a hardworking couple since we were young. We have been working hard and we have established ourselves before we entered public service.] Based on their statement of assets, liabilities and net worth, the Villar couple were the richest lawmakers in the House of Representatives and the Senate in 2008. Rep. Villar said Sen. Ma. Ana Consuelo Madrigal, who bared supposed evidence against her husband on Monday during a Senate trial, was lying. She also said Madrigal was unable to prove that Sen. Villar actually pocketed money from the project. "Lahat naman ng congressman at senador, alam natin na pag may project ka, identified lang 'yon pero hindi naman mapupunta sa 'yo 'yung pera. Pupunta 'yon sa Public Works para i-implement ang project mo. Wala naman kaming right na tumanggap ng pera sa gobyerno," said Rep. Villar. [All congressmen and senators know that when you have a project, the project would just be identified to them but they won't actually hold the money. The money will go to the Public Works department which will implement your project. We have no right to accept money from the government.] Rep. Villar said the accusations against her husband might be just politically-motivated since he is doing well in surveys on preferred presidential candidates. "Talagang ganyan ang pulitika e. Pag malakas ka, inaaway ka ng mga kalaban mo. Expected na namin yon at sanay na kami doon [That's politics. When you're doing well, your enemies try to bring you down. We expected that and we are used to that]." he said. Sen. Villar and his allies were no-shows at the trial of the Senate committee of the whole on Monday as they have a pending petition before the Supreme Court questioning the validity of the proceedings. - Johanna Camille Sisante, GMANews.TV