ANGELES CITY – A lawyer has filed a petition before the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to probe Nacionalista Party (NP) presidential candidate Sen. Manny Villar for funding his political campaigns from allegedly illegal contributions worth P6.7 billion from private corporations allied with the latter’s realty firm.
Lawyer Ernesto Francisco furnished Punto yesterday a copy of his complaint filed last Monday, asking the Comelec to “immediately order the conduct of an investigation to determine whether election laws have been violated and whether the funds that have been used and/or are being used by Sen. Villar in his presidential campaign” are sourced from at least 12 private corporations, contrary to law.
He also asked the Comelec to disqualify Villar from running for president if he is found guilty.
In 2009, Francisco also exposed the “redundant P200-million appropriation in the 2008 national budget, as well as the alleged irregularities in the road right-of-way acquisitions for the C-5 road extension project that also implicated Villar.
In his complaint filed Monday, Francisco noted that in his Statement of Assets and Liabilities (SALN) as of Dec. 31, 2008, Villar declared that he had only P29,212,803 “cash in the bank.”
He noted, however, that “starting 2009 up to the present”, Villar’s campaign expenses run into billions of pesos. He cited a report of the AGB Nielsen firm which estimated that Villar had spent some P1.2 billion for his radio and television political ads from Nov. 1 last year to last Feb. 8.
Francisco said that “even if he (Villar) had liquidated and/or sold all of his other declared assets in his sworn statement of assets and liabilities, namely, the ‘real properties’, ‘investment items’, and ‘receivables and other personal and reap properties,’ to finance his campaign expenses to date, which obviously he has not done, the proceeds would still be insufficient and inadequate to fund such expenses.”
“In order to defray the billions of pesos in expenses needed for his presidential bid, Sen. Villar must have billions of pesos in cash,” he said.
Francisco noted that when Sen. Villar is asked about the source of his funds for election expenses, he has been emphasizing that he has been spending his own money and “that he is not beholden to anyone.”
“However, if Sen. Villar only had P29,212,803 cash in bank as of Dec. 31, 2008 based on his own sworn statement of assets and liabilities, where is he getting the money that he is spending in his presidential campaign?” he asked.
Francisco asked the Comelec to probe reports that Villar’s funds have also been sourced from some P6.7 billion funds from at least 12 private corporations which are stockholders of the senator’s Vista Land and Lifescapes Inc. (Vista Land).
“Reports have attributed Sen. Villar’s abundance of campaign funds to his real estate businesses, including the successful initial public offering of his publicly listed company, Vista Land, which took place at about the same time that he signified his intention to run for president,” Francisco said in his complaint.
Records from the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) showed that on May 24, 2007, it approved the listing of 6,388,042,152 shares of Vista Land and on June 25 of the same year, the shares were listed with the PSE.
After the listing was approved, Vista Land applies for public offering of 3,105,994,207 shares at P6.85 per share. The offering consisted of 2,120,000,000 new shares of Vista Land and 985,994,207 existing shares owned by other shareholders.
On July 26, 2007, the PSE approved the sale of the new and existing shares. The new shares were sold at P6.85 per share for a total of P14,522,000,000, the amoung supposedly going to the coffers of Vista Land.
The existing shares also owned by other Vista Land shareholders were sold at the same price per share for a total of P6,754,050,317.
In his complaint, Francisco identified the shareholders as Polar Property Holdings Corp., Calveston Investments Corp., Althorp Holdings Inc., Cameron Global Ltd., Golden Haven Memorial Park, Inc., Cambridge Group, Inc., Polar Property Holdings Corp., Fine Properties, Inc., Adelfa Properties, Inc., C and P Homes, Inc. Crown Asia, Inc., Communities Philippines, Inc. Household Development Corp., and Vista Britanny Corp.
“While Sen. Villar is the major or principal stockholder of the aforementioned local corporations, the funds and assets of the said corporations do not belong to him but, rather, to the said corporations. They are all prohibited by law from giving contributions to Sen. Villar or to any other candidate in the May 10 elections,” Francisco said.
Francisco also cited Sec. 95 of the Omnibus Election Code, as amended, which says that corporations which have been “granted franchises, incentives, exemptions, allocations or similar privileges or concessions by the government or any of its divisions, subdivisions or instrumentalities, including government-owned or controlled corporations” are prohibited from giving financial aid to any candidate.
He noted that the corporations identified in his complaint are engaged in “highly regulated real estate business” which might be covered by those cited in the Omnibus Election Code section. This, he based on Vista Land’s own prospectus dated July 13, 2007, saying that it offers “incentives, exemptions, allocations or similar privileges or concessions by the government.”
In his complaint, Francisco asked the Comelec to find out whether funds from the shareholders were contributed for the campaign funds of Villar and other candidates of the NP. If so, he also petitioned the Comelec to order the stop in the use of such funds and “order the filing of the appropriate criminal charges for election offenses against those involved, including erring corporations and their officials.”
He also asked the Comelec to disqualify Villar as candidate for president in the May polls.
Lawyer Ernesto Francisco furnished Punto yesterday a copy of his complaint filed last Monday, asking the Comelec to “immediately order the conduct of an investigation to determine whether election laws have been violated and whether the funds that have been used and/or are being used by Sen. Villar in his presidential campaign” are sourced from at least 12 private corporations, contrary to law.
He also asked the Comelec to disqualify Villar from running for president if he is found guilty.
In 2009, Francisco also exposed the “redundant P200-million appropriation in the 2008 national budget, as well as the alleged irregularities in the road right-of-way acquisitions for the C-5 road extension project that also implicated Villar.
In his complaint filed Monday, Francisco noted that in his Statement of Assets and Liabilities (SALN) as of Dec. 31, 2008, Villar declared that he had only P29,212,803 “cash in the bank.”
He noted, however, that “starting 2009 up to the present”, Villar’s campaign expenses run into billions of pesos. He cited a report of the AGB Nielsen firm which estimated that Villar had spent some P1.2 billion for his radio and television political ads from Nov. 1 last year to last Feb. 8.
Francisco said that “even if he (Villar) had liquidated and/or sold all of his other declared assets in his sworn statement of assets and liabilities, namely, the ‘real properties’, ‘investment items’, and ‘receivables and other personal and reap properties,’ to finance his campaign expenses to date, which obviously he has not done, the proceeds would still be insufficient and inadequate to fund such expenses.”
“In order to defray the billions of pesos in expenses needed for his presidential bid, Sen. Villar must have billions of pesos in cash,” he said.
Francisco noted that when Sen. Villar is asked about the source of his funds for election expenses, he has been emphasizing that he has been spending his own money and “that he is not beholden to anyone.”
“However, if Sen. Villar only had P29,212,803 cash in bank as of Dec. 31, 2008 based on his own sworn statement of assets and liabilities, where is he getting the money that he is spending in his presidential campaign?” he asked.
Francisco asked the Comelec to probe reports that Villar’s funds have also been sourced from some P6.7 billion funds from at least 12 private corporations which are stockholders of the senator’s Vista Land and Lifescapes Inc. (Vista Land).
“Reports have attributed Sen. Villar’s abundance of campaign funds to his real estate businesses, including the successful initial public offering of his publicly listed company, Vista Land, which took place at about the same time that he signified his intention to run for president,” Francisco said in his complaint.
Records from the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) showed that on May 24, 2007, it approved the listing of 6,388,042,152 shares of Vista Land and on June 25 of the same year, the shares were listed with the PSE.
After the listing was approved, Vista Land applies for public offering of 3,105,994,207 shares at P6.85 per share. The offering consisted of 2,120,000,000 new shares of Vista Land and 985,994,207 existing shares owned by other shareholders.
On July 26, 2007, the PSE approved the sale of the new and existing shares. The new shares were sold at P6.85 per share for a total of P14,522,000,000, the amoung supposedly going to the coffers of Vista Land.
The existing shares also owned by other Vista Land shareholders were sold at the same price per share for a total of P6,754,050,317.
In his complaint, Francisco identified the shareholders as Polar Property Holdings Corp., Calveston Investments Corp., Althorp Holdings Inc., Cameron Global Ltd., Golden Haven Memorial Park, Inc., Cambridge Group, Inc., Polar Property Holdings Corp., Fine Properties, Inc., Adelfa Properties, Inc., C and P Homes, Inc. Crown Asia, Inc., Communities Philippines, Inc. Household Development Corp., and Vista Britanny Corp.
“While Sen. Villar is the major or principal stockholder of the aforementioned local corporations, the funds and assets of the said corporations do not belong to him but, rather, to the said corporations. They are all prohibited by law from giving contributions to Sen. Villar or to any other candidate in the May 10 elections,” Francisco said.
Francisco also cited Sec. 95 of the Omnibus Election Code, as amended, which says that corporations which have been “granted franchises, incentives, exemptions, allocations or similar privileges or concessions by the government or any of its divisions, subdivisions or instrumentalities, including government-owned or controlled corporations” are prohibited from giving financial aid to any candidate.
He noted that the corporations identified in his complaint are engaged in “highly regulated real estate business” which might be covered by those cited in the Omnibus Election Code section. This, he based on Vista Land’s own prospectus dated July 13, 2007, saying that it offers “incentives, exemptions, allocations or similar privileges or concessions by the government.”
In his complaint, Francisco asked the Comelec to find out whether funds from the shareholders were contributed for the campaign funds of Villar and other candidates of the NP. If so, he also petitioned the Comelec to order the stop in the use of such funds and “order the filing of the appropriate criminal charges for election offenses against those involved, including erring corporations and their officials.”
He also asked the Comelec to disqualify Villar as candidate for president in the May polls.
