Marcos skips Camille Villar’s name in Batangas campaign speech

BATANGAS CITY — President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. skipped the name of Las Piñas Representative and Deputy Speaker Camille Villar in his speech during the Alyansa Para sa Bagong Pilipinas campaign sortie here.

This is the first time that Marcos did not mention Villar in his campaign speech.

The Las Piñas representative has always been endorsed by the President during Alyansa’s campaign rallies, even if there were times that Villar was absent. The President even included Villar in his endorsement speech last Friday in a sortie in Quezon.

This time, even Villar's photos were missing from the stage backdrop.

Marcos’ move came the same week he ordered an investigation into the operations of PrimeWater Infrastructure Corp. due to numerous service-related complaints.

PrimeWater Infrastructure Corp. is owned by the Villar family.

The Villars also lead the Nacionalista Party (NP) which is one of the five political parties that form part of the Alyansa Para sa Bagong Pilipinas.

Marcos was a member of NP before he jumped to Partido Federal ng Pilipinas for his presidential bid in 2022.

GMA News Online sought the comment of Villar’s camp, but they have yet to respond as of posting time.

Vilma

Meanwhile, Batangas gubernatorial candidate and actress Vilma Santos-Recto expressed support for the administration’s senatorial slate.

Santos-Recto and her husband, Finance Sec. Ralph Recto hosted a lunch for the Alyansa candidates before their campaign rally at Batangas City Sports Coliseum.

“Itong ating get-together, malaki ang maitutulong nito sa atin kapag tayong lahat po ay pinalad. At the end of the day, let’s just continue to work as a team and let’s all continue to work as a family,” Santos-Recto said.

(This get-together will be a great help to all of us if we are fortunate enough. At the end of the day, let’s keep working together as a team and continue supporting each other like a family.)

The gubernatorial candidate also expressed hope that the Alyansa bets will help the province of Batangas should they win in Eleksyon 2025.

“Alam ho naming hindi namin kakayaning lahat kahit nandiyan si Secretary Ralph. Papa, baka mga senador, tatakbo rin po kami sa inyo ho, hihingi rin kami ng tulong ho para naman sa pakinabangan ng amin pong lalawigan ng Batangas,” Santos-Recto said.

(We know we can’t do everything, even with Secretary Ralph’s support. Dad, maybe some senators, we will also approach you for help for the benefit of our province of Batangas.)

Santos-Recto is running against Jay Ilagan, Kuyakap Ozaeta, and Mike Rivera in Batangas' gubernatorial race.

Calabarzon is the region with the most number of registered voters for Eleksyon 2025, with Batangas province being the seventh most vote-rich province in the upcoming polls. —with reports from JP Soriano/ VAL, GMA Integrated News

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