Villar helped me during the campaign, Rody admits

FILE: President Rodrigo Roa Duterte listens to Senator Cynthia Villar. (SIMEON CELI JR./PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO)

President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday admitted that Senator Cynthia Villar had supported him in his campaign during the 2016 May presidential elections.

In a speech at the Agrilink, Food Link, Aqualink 2017 at the World Trade Center in Pasay City, Duterte said Villar is one of his contributors who helped him with his television advertisements during the campaign period.

“During the presidential debates, in between far and wide the debates, there was this intermission. Nakita mo wala akong advertisement. Walang pera eh [You see I have no advertisement because I have no money],” the president said.

“Buti na lang tumulong si Ma’am Cynthia. Tinulungan niya ako [Good thing Ma’am Cynthia helped, she helped me]. I have to admit it, na tinulungan ako [that I was helped],” Duterte added.

Villar, who was at the stage with some other government officials and guests listening to the president’s speech, was seen holding her head.

The lady senator is the wife of former Senator Manny Villar, and mother of Mark Villar, who was appointed by Duterte as secretary of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) a week after the latter won the presidency.

According to his Statement of Contributions and Expenditures (SOCE), the president spent a total of P371.46 million for his electoral campaign.

The Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) reported that 13 biggest donors funded his 89.28 percent or P334 millions of campaign funds. The list is topped by Antonio Floirendo Jr. and Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano, who was Duterte’s running mate.

Villar was not on the full list of the president’s donors. However, PCIJ reported that Marcelino Mendoza, one of Duterte’s biggest contributors, has close ties with the Villars.

“Mendoza, who donated P14.5 million to help finance Duterte’s presidential bid, is from Las Piñas. He is listed as well as incorporator, board member, and stockholder of Vista Land & Lifescapes, Inc. Vista Land’s chairman is former senator Manuel B. Villar Jr. Its president and chief executive officer is Villar’s eldest child, Manuel Paolo,” the PCIJ said.