Villar nixes possibility of 2016 candidacy

Manny Villar (Wikipedia Photo)

Sen. Cynthia Villar, wife of Former Senate President Manny Villar, announced yesterday that her husband has decided he will not be a part of the hullaballoo of the 2016 elections.

Earlier reports had broached the possibility that Villar, the current president of the Nacionalista Party (NP), was floated as would be a running mate in Vice President Jejomar C. Binay’s bid for the presidency.

These reports surfaced shortly after Cavite Governor and NP supporter Jonvic Remulla was appointed as the vice president’s spokesperson in the area of political matters.

Remulla was quick to clarify that Villar had no involvement with his decision to take on the position as Binay’s spokesperson.

Sen. Villar, however, dashed all speculations of a Binay-Villar lineup in 2016, as she said that her husband “is too busy with our (real estate) business.”

“He is happy with what he is doing right now,” she stressed.

Villar, who was recently named by Forbes Magazine as the 14th richest Filipino, ran for the presidency in the 2010 elections, but lost to then Senator Benigno Aquino III.

Although Binay critics have expressed their doubts that the Vice President would join the NP, Sen. Villar pointed to the possibility of “politics” as playing a role in Binay’s choice of a spokesperson affiliated with the party.

“Probably because those who spoke against Vice President Binay are Nacionalista, he also got an NP member as spokesperson. That’s how politics is, she said, referring to the alleged overpriced Makati City Hall Building II, and to Remulla’s appointment as spokesman, respectively.

Sen. Villar added that Remulla had informed her husband of his support for Binay’s presidential bid in the 2016 elections.

Sen. Cynthia Villar. Photo courtesy of Cynthia Villar’s official Facebook page.