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pasiplat.blogspot.comHe charms his way into the audience's hearts and to the top of the surveys with his trademark sipag at tiyaga slogan and orange polo-shirt. Spending over a hundred million pesos already in "info-mercials" with themes ranging from OFW's he's helped to how his family lived in the 50's and the latest with a catchy jingle but the big question is: will he be able to cash in his investment? If the latest SWS survey is to be believed, he might. Gaining the top spot for the first time from VP De Castro with a commanding 33 percent rating. The closest rival is former president Erap with 25 percent and Noli is now fifth with 19 percent.
He was born on the 13th of December, 1949 in Tondo, Manila to a poor family. He finished Bachelor of Arts and Masters in Business Administration at the University of the Philippines as a working student and in 1975 started his business empire with just 10,000 pesos and transformed it into what is now known as the Camella and Palmera Homes, one of the key players in the real estate market in the country.
After establishing himself as a successful businessman, he ventured into politics and was elected to congress representing the city of Las Pinas during the 1992 elections and was re-elected decisively in 1995 and 1998 when he became speaker of the house. Villar was actually the first speaker of the house in the country to impeach a president (Erap) in 2000. With his rise to political stardom after the impeachment case, he ran for senate and won in the 2001 elections barely nine years after his first election. Manny and his wife Cynthia consistently top the list of the richest legislators in the country. He became senate president in 2007 and was forced to resign over a year later due to scandals over his c5 road extension project but was subsequently cleared of all allegations. He formally declared his intention to run for president in 2010 on September 4 last year under the Nacionalista Party which he chairs.
With all the money he's got, opponents will surely have a hard time catching up but in my own opinion, his steady cash supply is not his best asset. With a rags to riches story which fascinates the Filipino people in telenovelas, he surely has this intangible advantage of belongingness with the masses. Whether this could translate to better presidential policies in favor of the poor and the oppressed if elected remains unseen.
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Topic: Presidentiables: Rags to Big Bucks (Read 707 times)