Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile said on Wednesday that he has witness who can prove his accusation that Senator Manny Villar tried to buy him off in exchange of favorable decision.
â€I have a witness who can prove that Villar is a liar if he is claiming that he did not say it (bribery attempt),†Enrile said in a radio dzLT interview on Wednesday.
Enrile said he can swear to the life of his children that Villar has indeed attempted to bribe him at the height of the investigation into allegations against Villar in connection with the C-5 road extension project controversy.
â€Maisusumpa ko sa buhay ng aking mga anak na totoo ‘yon na sinabi ni Manny Villar. Ewan ko lang kung maisusumpa niya sa buhay ng kanyang mga anak na hindi totoo ang sinabi kong ‘yon. (I can swear to my children’s life that Manny Villar really said it. I don’t know if he also can swear to his children’s life that I’m not telling the truth),†Enrile said.
Enrile said Villar offered the bribe at a luncheon meeting in Shangri-la Hotel in Makati on August 29 last year.
The Senate president did not name his witness but he had already claimed that he was with his chief of staff Atty. Gigi Reyes during the luncheon meeting.
Villar, standard-bearer of the Nacionalista Party, denied Enrile’s accusation, admitting that the allegation hurt him.
â€I can’t do it (bribery). The accusation of Senator Enrile hurt me. This is foul. He is throwing different allegations against me these past few days. The report is pure lie. They said I borrowed, I offered bribe. That‘s too personal,†Villar said in a separate radio dzXL interview.
Villar linked the series of attacks against him to the recent surveys which show him getting closer to frontrunning Noynoy Aquino, presidential candidate of Liberal Party.
â€They are now in panic situation. They are just doing this to stop my increasing rating in the survey,†Villar said.
Villar said he will answer the accusations in the Senate although he claimed he had already answered the allegations a hundred times in the radio, TV, print and different forums.
â€It is clear that I will not get fair judgment because my accuser is presidentiable and judge at the same time,†Villar said, referring to Sen. Jamby Madrigal who filed the ethics complaints against him.
Villar explained anew that C-5 extension road project was not realigned “since there were two road projects†including the tollway under the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB).
â€This C-5 extension road project is for free because it was constructed by the Department of Public Works and Highway. Some six million commuters in Cavite, Las Pinas and Paranaque will benefit from this road project,†Villar said.
The report of committee of the whole recommends that Villar be censured and return the amount of P6.2 billion that the government had spent for the project.
Enrile has already submitted the report at the plenary after mustering 12 signatures but suspended the debate on whether to approve the report following the Monday’s tensions-filled proceedings.
Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri said the majority bloc decided to suspend it to give way to the approval of the priority measures. The debate will resume on Monday. (PNA)
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