Manuel "Manny" Bamba Villar, Jr. (born December 13, 1949) is a Filipino businessman and politician. He is currently a Philippine Senator, president of the Nacionalista Party, and a candidate for president in the 2010 presidential election.
Villar was born in Tondo, an impoverished and densely populated district of Manila. After graduating from the University of the Philippines, he worked as an accountant and financial analyst, then launched a highly successful business in real estate. The number of homes built by Villar's companies has totaled to over 200,000 units, and his business career made him one of the country's wealthiest persons.
Villar entered politics in 1992 when he was elected Congressman representing the district of Las Piñas-Muntinlupa, and later became Speaker of the House of Representatives. As Speaker, he presided over the impeachment of President Joseph Estrada by the House of Representatives in 2000. In 2001 he was elected Senator, and served as Senate President from 2006 to 2008.
Early Life and Education
Manuel Bamba Villar, Jr. was born on December 13, 1949 in Tondo, an impoverished and densely populated district of Manila.[1] He was the second of the nine children of his parents. His father, Manuel Montalban Villar, Sr., was a government employee from Cabatuan, Iloilo, and his mother Curita Bamba was a seafood dealer from Orani, Bataan. The family lived in a small rented apartment located in a run-down slum area.
As a child, Villar attended Holy Child Catholic School, a private Catholic school in Tondo. He also assisted his mother in selling shrimp and fish at the Divisoria Public Market in order to help earn the money to support his siblings and himself to school. He finished his high school education at the Mapúa Institute of Technology in Intramuros. He attended the University of the Philippines - Diliman and earned his bachelor's degree in business administration in 1970. He returned to the same school to earn his master's degree in business administration in 1973. He later characterized himself as being impatient with formal schooling, and eager to start working and go into business.
Political Career
House of Representatives
Villar entered politics in 1992 when he was elected to the House of Representatives, representing the district of Las Piñas-Muntinlupa (and later the district of Las Piñas City). He served for three consecutive three-year terms, consistently posting landslide election victories.
Villar was chosen Speaker of the House of Representatives in 1998. In August 1998, Rep. Joker Arroyo accused Villar of various conflicts of interest and breaches of ethical standards with regards to his status as both lawmaker and real estate developer. During 2010 presidential campaign Arroyo defended Villar against the same accusations saying the Senate rules being used are wrong.
As speaker, he presided over the impeachment of President Joseph Estrada over corruption allegations in November 2000. Along with a large group of lawmakers which include the Senate President, Villar defected from Estrada's Laban ng Makabayang Masang Pilipino (LAMMP) coalition in order to hasten the process of impeachment. Seconds after the opening prayer, and skipping the traditional roll call, he immediately read a resolution sending the impeachment case to the Senate for trial, bypassing a full vote and ignoring attempts by Estrada allies to delay the proceedings. Hours after the impeachment proceedings, congressmen allied with the president led a move to oust Villar from his post as speaker, replacing him with Estrada ally Arnulfo Fuentebella.
In 2001, barred by constitutional term limits from seeking re-election to a fourth term in the House of Representatives, Villar was succeeded by his wife, Cynthia Villar.
Senate
Villar ran for Senator in the 2001 election. Having recently resigned from Estrada's LAMMP coalition, he ran for Senator as an independent politician, but campaigned as a member of the People Power Coalition, the administration coalition party which was supportive of the recent 2001 EDSA Revolution. He was elected to the Senate with more than 11 million votes, ranking seventh out of 37 candidates.[13] He later won re-election in 2007, running as a member of the Genuine Opposition coalition, ranking fourth out of 37 candidates.
In July 2006, Villar was chosen Senate President. He had previously held the position of Senate President pro tempore, as well as the chairmanship of the Committees on Finance, Foreign Relations, Public Order, and Committee on Agriculture and Fisheries. In November 2008, he resigned the position due to a lack of support in the Senate, and was succeeded by Juan Ponce Enrile who later on investigated Villar for C5 scam. Enrile later claimed that Villar allegedly tried to buy off Enrile.
source: wikipedia.org
