If Villar Wins and GMA is Speaker

FRANKLY SPEAKING
by Frank Wenceslao

The biggest problem the Philippines may face if Manuel Villar wins and Gloria Macapagal Arroyo becomes House speaker she’s aspiring for is the nation’s worse destabilization and economic meltdown than anytime before.

Aside other options to hold Villar accountable, GMA has records of the National Home Mortgage Finance Corp. (NHMFC) of the billions of pesos Villar and wife made through their Capitol (now Optimum) Development Bank and real estate companies that have been meanwhile merged into their flagship, Vista Land & Lifescapes Inc.

To make a long story short, the unified home lending program of President Cory Aquino required government mortgage lenders such as GSIS, SSS and Pag-IBIG Fund to pool their funds for financing low-cost housing through the NHMFC which in turn bought home mortgages arranged by private banks such as Capitol.

Capitol mostly financed the housing projects of Villar-owned real estate companies that probably included acquisition and development of high-end lands not provided for in the low-interest UHLP financing. Partly for overexpansion, illegal utilization of UHLP financing and defaulting homebuyers, Capitol suffered liquidity crisis (or did it really?) and was compelled to ask the Bangko Sentral (BSP) for P1.5 billion advances in 1998. For security it had the reconstituted titles of lands in Norzagaray, Bulacan, issued to Manila Brickworks, Inc. then owned by the Puyats whose failed projects compelled them to mortgage the property with Capitol.

The Villars closed Capitol and transferred all its assets and liabilities to Optimum Development Bank presumably to cover up the criminal culpability of Capitol’s officers led by Mrs. Villar as CEO in their contemplated default of the BSP loan. In 2001, Optimum assumed the mortgage for the Norzagaray property as its security for the BSP loan obtained by Capitol. Two years later the BSP foreclosed the property when Optimum defaulted on the P1.5 billion loan.

A big mystery is how much did the Villars pay the Puyats for Manila Brickworks to own the lands under the reconstituted titles foreclosed by BSP? Shrewd and astute business people like Villar and wife could’ve put aside millions of pesos if not the entire P1.5 billion BSP loan by convincing the Puyats they should accept token payment for the property since the reconstituted titles allegedly cover lands belonging to the Dumagats, an indigenous people, The truth, of course, will out in the pending plunder case of the Dumagats against the Villars.

Add to the above the evidence adduced by the Senate Committee of the Whole of Villar’s culpabilities in the C-5 road extension project in its Report No. 780, which Juan Ponce Enrile said that a good prosecutor will send Villar to jail.

Thus, GMA has several impeachable offenses to hang a “sword of Damocles” over Villar’s head if he wins. Villar’s big trouble will come when the U.S. considers his presidency intolerable because GMA might continue in power and risk losing the Philippines’ democratic government.

There’ve been precedents the U.S. doesn’t hesitate invading a sovereign nation, for example, Panama, arresting and extraditing to be tried in the States former president Manuel Noriega for violating U.S. laws. Noriega is still in federal custody pending extradition to face trial for certain crimes in France.

With their unexplained and ill-gotten wealth GMA and Villar almost surely can be sued by Pamusa in the U.S. for violating U.S. laws, more so when their enforcement has been reinforced by the UNCAC’s international cooperation provisions (UNCAC-ICP), as follows:

1. Wire fraud – In the U.S. Code, it’s any criminally fraudulent activity that has been determined to have involved electronic communications of any kind, e.g. money transfer to the U.S. at any phase of the event. It involves several classes of felonies, providing for a separate and additional federal penalty for any crime of fraud involving electronic communications.

2. Money Laundering – It’s the process of changing or depositing in U.S. banks large amounts of money obtained from such activities as organized crimes, drug trafficking, terrorism funding or government corruption into origination from a legitimate source. Under this law it’s the practice of engaging in financial transactions to conceal the identity, source, or destination of illegally earned money, which GMA and Villar are surely guilty of.

3. Racketeering – Violation of Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) is a U.S. federal law that provides for extended criminal penalties and a civil cause of action for acts performed as part of an ongoing criminal organization. Under RICO, a person who is a member of an enterprise that has committed any two of 35 crimes — 27 federal and 8 state crimes — within a 10-year period can be charged with racketeering. Those found guilty of racketeering can be fined up to $250,000 and/or sentenced to 20 years in prison per count.

In addition, the racketeer must forfeit all ill-gotten gains and interest in any business gained through a pattern of “racketeering activity.” RICO also permits a private individual harmed by the actions of such an enterprise to file a civil suit; if successful, the individual can collect treble damages.
When the U.S. Attorney (federal prosecutor) decides to indict someone under RICO, the prosecutor has the option of seeking a pre-trial restraining order or injunction to temporarily seize a defendant’s assets and prevent the transfer of potentially forfeitable property, as well as require the defendant to put up a performance bond. This provision was placed in the law because the owners of Mafia-related shell corporations often absconded with the assets. An injunction and/or performance bond ensures that there is something to seize in the event of a guilty verdict.
Unsolicited as it may be, I wish to advise Villar and GMA that withdrawing their candidacies is the better part of discretion. They’ve overlooked that the whole world is now up in arms against government corruption which is undoubtedly the most debilitating problem of every nation on earth.
It’s just unfortunate GMA, Villar, etc. will be the Filipino examples that will jolt people with an unmistakable reminder corruption don’t pay anymore.

For direct comments: fcwenceslao1034@gmail.com