Iloilo land project above board - Villar

Nacionalista Party standard-bearer yesterday said his land project in Iloilo is above board, underscoring his companies are all open to public scrutiny.



Villar issued the statement to belie claims of Liberal Party senatorial candidate Franklin Drilon that he facilitated the illegal conversion of prime lands in an Iloilo town to build a subdivision for one of his real estate companies.



Villar’s legal counsel Lawyer Nalen Galang also denied Drilon’s allegation in a statement to media.



Drilon, a former Senate president whose post he relinquished to Villar in 2006, claimed that the NP presidential bet had a road built along Jibao-an in Pavia town, which will pass in front of Savannah subdivision in Barangay Polo Maestra in Oton town.



To which Villar shot back: “Mga public companies yan na binabantayan ng Securities and Exchange Commission at lahat ng agencies ng government. Puwede iyang tingnan ng kahit na sino,” Villar told reporters after the NP’s mini rally in Tanza Cavite.



“Walang nilalabag na batas (ang mga kompanya ko). Walang inagrabyado, at lalong walang niloko sa publiko. Marangal na ginagawa yan,” the senator said.



He branded Drilon’s claim as another round of mudslinging against him.



“Hindi ko malaman kung ano na namang mga akusasyon na inimbento yan. Basta may proseso iyan at naaayon sa batas. Nagtataka ako sa kanilang sinasabi. Ito ay kasama ng mga paninira sa akin,” Villar said.



Villar’s lawyer said the road Drilon mentioned has been in existence long before Savannah subdivision was even being planned.



“This is another act of desperation and traditional politicking. Companies owned by Sen. Villar complies with all regulations and obtains all permits required for conversion, used and development of its properties,” Galang said.



Savannah subdivision is reportedly listed in the Camella Homes website as one of its properties in Iloilo.



Galang said Villar’s companies make it a point to obtain all necessary documents before embarking on a project.



“Prior to development, his companies make sure that the necessary conversion or exemption order is obtained and all projects are covered by duly issued development permits and licenses to sell,” she said.



Drilon described the Iloilo project as a “C5 and a half,” in apparent reference to the controversial C5 road extension project, which has dragged Villar’s name in a number of Senate inquiries.



Drilon presented to reporters in Iloilo copies of declarations from farmer-beneficiaries showing that the 12.7-hectare land allegedly converted by Villar’s Crown Communities – better known as Camella Homes – used to be “first-class rice lands, covered by the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) “and are therefore not subject to land conversion.”



Iloilo provincial administrator Manuel Mejorada also claimed that the application for the land's conversion from agricultural to residential was filed by two farmer-beneficiaries represented by executives of Camella Homes and approved in 2007.



But Villar's corporation began developing the land as early as 2000, and even had a 586-meter road built in front of it in 2004, he said.



Sought for comment on the issue, NP senatorial candidate and spokesman Adel Tamano branded the new allegation as “cheap mudslinging” against Villar.



"I'm so surprised how the LP can stoop this low. At the start of campaign, lamang sila... They kept on saying na 'wag tayo magtapunan ng putik, i-raise natin yung level ng debate at platform lang ang pag-uusapan natin. Ngayon na nag-equal na ang kandidato namin sa kanila, e biglang nagtapon sila ng kung anu-anong alegasyon," Tamano said.