Photo by lamazoneIn the coming 2010 presidential elections, the candidate currently leading the surveys is getting all the bad press. Is Villar the villain of our elections story? Or have we forgotten how it is to be objective?

Note: I write this post amidst the C5 controversy (click to download primer) and the so-called “grandfather of Legacy scam” issue that Sen. Jamby Madrigal raised and explained yesterday which Sen. Villar denies.

The lawyer also said the Villars no longer have shares on the Optimum Development bank.

She also said that since the transactions happened even before Villar became a senator, the “acts are beyond the jurisdiction of the Senate.”

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile agreed to this.

“That borrowing of the money at that time will not be taken as part of the ethical misconduct because he was not yet a part of the Senate,” Enrile said in an interview with reporters.

My thoughts on this, if there is incontestable evidence, let the complainant file the case in the proper courts, the Sandiganbayan perhaps? That is such a heavy accusation she got there. Problem is will she see this issue through the end? As much as I want to believe all that Sen. Madrigal claims, she happens to be notorious at starting an issue and then abandoning it on a whim. Leaving us all wanting. Iniiwan tayo sa ere.

Disclosure: I am in no way connected with Senator Manny Villar or his office. My support of him is a personal decision which I have made long before I have been invited to the blogger event for which I write this post. While it is my personal conviction that he is the best choice for President come 2010, you, the reader of this blog are entitled to your own choices. Your opinions are valued in this blog, this is after all, a free country. So please feel free to share your thoughts. However, profanity and expletives are best kept to yourself. But of course you know that already. :)

By the way, if you haven’t already, I urge you to register for the 2010 elections. Deadline is August 31, 2009. Remember, voting is not just a right, it’s an obligation. It is one of the best things you can do for your country in the preservation of democracy and the sole decision you can make that can create a long-term impact for the better or for the worse. So it goes without saying that you vote wisely.

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They sneered at his decision to run for President in 2010, many said that he wouldn’t lead the surveys ever, much less win. So everyone was quiet and complacent. Surely, Villar will not win the favor of the general voters, much less the so-called masa (at least in the pre-elections survey) — or so they thought. But when his rank in various surveys started getting better, surely, he is doing something illegal or unacceptable — or so they thought.

Sometimes you can’t blame these people. It’s not entirely surprising, in a country as impoverished as ours, that this mentality that “affluence=evil” has become prevalent because that’s what Villains in movies are supposed to be — rich and powerful, opportunistic, heartless, consistent liars, evil to the core. When you are rich, you have got to be made of pure evilness. When you are poor, you have got to be pure of heart. That’s the template we have made. That’s how we stereotype according to economic class. So surely, this is what villains are supposed to be in real life as well — or so they thought.

How else will you explain their vast wealth? The land they own which stretches far into the horizon, farther than your eyes could see? How can you possibly be wealthy and honorable at the same time? That’s unthinkable! How can you possibly be successful, acquire riches and not lose a sense of your morals? Surely, anyone who is rich, whether by birth or by sheer perseverance, will eventually succumb to greed — that’s inevitable. No, scratch it, it’s a sure thing. He will only enrich himself some more. Surely, no one who is rich deserves to be President — or so they thought.

Affluence=Evil. Period. Definitive. No exceptions. Sure thing. — or so they thought.

For how can anyone who lives in a mansion, drives a luxury car, owns acres upon acres of land, businesses of all sorts and jaw-dropping stock portfolios empathize with the poorest of the poor? The uncared for? The forgotten? How?

Well, if yours is a “rags to riches” story, to empathize with the poor you once were isn’t hard to imagine. But no, the cynics say. Affluence=Evil. Period. Definitive. No exceptions. Sure thing. — or so they thought.

This is the dilemma of Senator Manny Villar. But not one he goes through alone. It is also the dilemma of the “not-so-rich” presidentiables. Why so? Because in the same way we are adamant in putting someone rich in the highest seat of the land, we are equally reluctant to put someone “less rich” in the Palace — ironically, for the exactly the same reason — for fear of the elected President to amass wealth from the country’s coffers. Temptation in government is very strong. It is everywhere. But it is especially strong in the Palace. To resist such, one must either be 1) impossibly saintly; and/or 2) too contented to not even spare corruption a thought.

So surely, people tell themselves — Villar is the villain. In this story we’re writing, anyone lesser in finances is the better choice — they tell themselves. Look at all the money he’s spending for TV ads. Surely, he’d want to get it back, double the amount at least — after all, villains think that way. They are cunning…scheming. Conflict of interest. Double insertion. That’s what the cynics tell themselves.

Hopefully, this little interview and humble article will be able to shed some light on certain issues and satisfy our need for answers to nagging questions we’ve always had and Sen. Manny Villar have always been asked.

MUST-READ PORTION: SKIP ALL BUT THIS

In my pre-interview article, I titled the post “Behind Frosted Glass: Uncovering the “Man” in Manny Villar”. I chose that title because I felt it was a fitting comparison to how people see him — “behind frosted glass”. Frosted glass is produced by the acid etching of clear sheet glass, or sand-blasting. It has the effect of rendering the glass translucent, obscuring the view while still passing light. Therefore, when someone is behind frosted glass, you can’t make out or figure out who is behind it — you can’t tell exactly how he looks like. But of course, this analogy transcends the physical. In its deeper sense, you can’t tell what is in his heart, his personality, his values, his so-called “essence”. So every person who looks at this frosted glass looks with curiosity, sometimes with awe, sometimes with disdain — all wondering, and each of them having a certain “perception” of who that person behind frosted glass is. They see this obscure figure moving about, possibly going through the routine of his life for years on end, just going through the motions of a normal life, oblivious to the fact that people who pass by and try to see him through this frosted glass, after spending a lengthy time trying to “figure him out”, leave frustrated and with only a vague image of who the guy is “in real life”. Left with no other choice, they turn to each other for insights, each one comparing notes with the other. One says, “I think he is ungodly. I’ve never seen him pray.” The other one adds, “And I think he’s irresponsible, I’ve never seen him clean the house.” A third one concludes, with so much passion and false conviction, “I’m not sure he is even a man at all. I mean, he could be anything but a man.”

Now, imagine passing by this same frosted glass one day, given all the authority and resources to shatter that glass and get to see the “man” for the very first time — as he is. You have two hours to ask him what you’ve always wanted to know, yes, even the personal stuff. What will you ask this “man”? And after you found out what and who he is, will you keep it to yourself? Or will you share it with everyone else?

If I am that fortunate passer-by, wouldn’t you want to know what I have found out?

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Click here to view the replay of the live-blogged Q&A

FINAL THOUGHTS:

After sitting down with Senator Manny Villar, the question of whether he is the villain becomes cloudier and cloudier as he sits there sharing his thoughts and vision for the country. And suddenly, you come to a realization, perhaps clearer than your first impression, clearer than all the noise created by scandals. Villar the villain fades into the background and you realize, one thing and only one thing is for sure — by chasing his dream and being true to himself and his core beliefs, unfazed by all criticisms, Villar the villain may remain a question to many but Villar the villified will be an incontestable fact.
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Credits:
Many thanks to Natz Jose of Havoc Digital for the invite.

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