Worse than Gloria

It’s been on many people’s lips: “The way Manny Villar is buying up everyone and everything with his money in clearing his path to the presidency. He’ll be worse than Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo” who has bought with corruption money everything from elections and watchdogs, to police and AFP generals, princes of the Catholic Church and other Christian sects, US diplomats, poll surveys, media, NGOs, opposition politicians, ad nausea. Villar, who isn’t even in Malacañang yet, has been doing pretty much the same thing with much more gusto and vehemence than Gloria ever did before she was thrust to the top. Aside from spending what some estimate to be between P350 to P800 million on his media blitzes, Villar is also known to be spending even bigger amounts buying local and provincial politicians to his side, bringing his pre-election expenditure already in the billions.

The sources of Villar’s present seemingly bottomless cornucopia of money is labyrinthian. No matter how many times it is explained, it almost beyond comprehension. One real estate explained the gist of it: It’s all rooted in the old Unified Home Lending Program (UHLP) and National Home Mortgage Finance Corp. (NHMFC) from decades ago that put together resources of three government housing agencies to finance and restart workers and employees home ownership. Manny Villar was a major player in these programs working through real estate brokers to buy up housing loan privileges from workers and employees without intending to build those homes, taking the financing proceeds and just letting the projects be foreclosed. These constituted hundreds of thousands of non-existent homes, described as “ghost deliveries” of homes, resulting in at least P43 billion losses to government housing finance agencies.

The windfall from these massive, anomalous housing deals started his other land banking activities and his use of his congressional and Senate privileges to divert and fund roads through these properties to boost their values. Villar’s rise to billions is a story of his genius in allegedly corrupting government housing and financial agencies and officials, financial shenanigans including DOSRI loans over overpriced real estate collaterals to his own bank which he eventually collapses, abuse of the SPAV law to buy back his own debts at a huge markdown, and diverting public money to infrastructure for his own properties to geometrically inflate and multiply the value of his holdings. If someday an honest government starts an inquiry into Villar’s tree of bountiful plenty it will likely find the gnarled roots in billions of illicit earnings of Villar’s real estate companies in the losses of the UHLP and NHMFC.

The losses of the UHLP and NHMFC amounting to over P30 billion still have to be resolved, according to housing industry sources I have interviewed. When uncovered, these may well be the undoing of Manny Villar. In the multi-billion Daang Hari scam exposed by Senators Panfilo Lacson and Jamby Madrigal we have seen how Villar’s neck can really be put on the chopping block, what more when even bigger scams from way, way back are uncovered. Manny Villar has to run and run hard to keep ahead of all these cases pursuing him. He has to spend more and more billions to stay ahead, and he’s buying up media time and space, and media commentators and opinion makers, to brainwash the public mind. The media blitzkriegs are taking effect and he is genuinely surging ahead in the public consciousness, especially that of the masa, and particularly with the “tulong sa OFW” spiel.

Villar thinks that he can buy everyone and everything. If Villar is not effectively exposed as the scam man that he is, and with his frame of mind going into the elections and into Malacañang we will no doubt have someone at least as bad as Gloria Arroyo heading the next government, but probably worse since even Gloria had to rely on various groups to grab power which had a dampening effect on her voracity. Villar is totally using only money to buy, buy, buy and buy victory. What can we expect from the conjugal partnership behind this Villar campaign, another conjugal kleptocracy to not only to recoup the wild campaign spending in the shortest time possible but to expand their property and financial amassing using government resources. We should bring this question to the people: Do they want another kleptocracy in the next government?

To campaign against the money and media of Villar is to wage a two pronged assault on the false image Villar is buying for himself. First, a “truth campaign” to expose the lie behind his wealth and his propaganda; second is to unmask the fraudulent image Villar is building for himself by projecting a candidate and leader with real qualities the Villar can only pretend to have. These qualities are: Demonstrated spirit of love for and among Filipinos, palpable compassion for the nation, proven capacity for reconciling and unifying conflicting forces of this country to overcome the growing crises of the times, with a record of concrete achievements and the pledge to do more of what has been proven beneficial to the nation, correct, pragmatic and effective in governance, peace and order, and in patriotic and effective economic development strategies.

Chiz has been stuck in his pandering to the youth vote, Korina hopelessly muddled Mar’s message, Noli is so desperate he’s announced his desire for Gloria’s kiss of death. All of them, like Loren, are being relegated to the vice-presidential derby. The race is now down to Estrada and Villar. Villar is peaking too early with his media blitzkriegs, the “truth campaign” will make mince meat of it now. Estrada is cruising along at the right pace. A very human and humorous movie with Ai Ai de las Alas will touch the heart of the nation. A modest communication campaign should remind the nation of the achievements of his abruptly interrupted governance and recall how over time his vindication came. His passion for truth and justice that generated reconciliation and unity should be highlighted. Such is the message of hope and vision Erap brings, versus the only thing that Villar offers: A leadership worse than Gloria. –Herman Tiu Laurel, Daily Tribune

(Tune to 1098AM, M-W-F, 6 to 7 p.m.; Global News Network, Destiny, Cable Channel 7, Tuesday 8:15 to 9 p.m., Talk News TV with FDC on “Laban sa Laiban Dam-nation”; visit http://www.hermantiulaurel.blogspot.com)