The Philippine Online Chronicles

Presidential candidate Senator Manny Villar surprised today's Senate session with an empathic privilege speech wherein he emphasized that he “did not benefit” from the C-5 Road Extension Project.

This came after the Senate Committee of the Whole found Villar guilty of making double insertions in the project's budget.

“The [committee] report was presented to deceive the people... This was fabricated by my political opponents,” Villar said in Filipino.

Villar then explained that if the budget of the C-5 project was released, it must have passed through the Department of Public Works and Highways and not through his office. He also emphasized that his interest in the said project “is for the benefit of the people of Las Pinas, Paranaque, and Muntinlupa... who suffer tremendous traffic in the South Luzon Expressway” and other major roads in the area, and not for his personal benefit.

“Sa mata ng Diyos, masasabi ko na hindi po ako nakinabang dito (In the eyes of God, I never benefited from this project),” Villar concluded.

Meanwhile, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and Senator Jamby Madrigal motioned to presiding officer Senator Jinggoy Estrada for a “cross-examination” of Villar to “clarify more questions” but Villar, after his speech, immediately left the Senate plenary hall.