By Nancy C. Carvajal
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 07:52:00 02/19/2010
MANILA, Philippines—A group of farmers has accused Nacionalista Party presidential candidate Sen. Manny Villar and his wife of fraud in the acquisition of a P1.5-billion loan from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) in 1998.
In a press conference Thursday, the farmers said their land was used by Las Piñas Rep. Cynthia Villar to secure a loan for Optimum Development Bank (formerly Capitol Bank), which was owned by the couple, from the BSP.
“We are the rightful owners of the land used by Optimum Bank to pay its debts to the BSP using dubious documents,†said Gina Jarvinia, one of the 28 landowners who attended the conference.
Jarvinia showed reporters documents to show they were the rightful owners of at least 715 hectares located in Barangay San Isidro, San Jose del Monte, Bulacan, foreclosed by the BSP after Optimum Bank failed to repay the loan.
Nieves Tecson, spokesperson of the group, said the farmers decided to speak up now “because Villar is running for president.â€
“This is our only chance to be heard. It must be now because we are scared nothing will happen with our fight if he becomes president,†Tecson said.
She said they started their fight against Villar in 2008 when they filed a complaint against him with the Ombudsman.
“It has been more than two years, nothing has come out of it,†she said.
In a statement, Villar lawyer Nalen Rosero Galang said: “This revived issue is another clear indication of the obsession of Senator Villar’s opponents to link him to an anomaly, any anomaly.
“We reiterate that Capitol Bank’s transactions with BSP were all aboveboard and legal. The properties transferred to BSP were all covered by titles existing on file with the Registry of Deeds,†he said.
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