By Robert B. Roque Jr.
Senator Cynthia Villar’s statements, made during a December 18 gathering in Sitio Pugad Lawin, Las Piñas City, have earned her a lot of flak on social media.
Frankly, the brazenness of her supposed message to her constituency really shocked me. I did not imagine she could insult the poor and rip through the very fabric of democracy.
Her remarks had shamelessly tied land distribution like a carrot on a stick to the electoral loyalty of the city’s residents. To put it simply, don’t these words of hers sound to you like political coercion?
“The election results will measure your gratitude for our land grants,” she supposedly declared in the video of the public gathering. This chilling statement veers dangerously close to electoral blackmail.
She didn’t stop there, though, and went on to issue a warning that her family might “change their minds” about granting land if the residents failed to support her family’s candidates in the upcoming 2025 elections.
Wow! I can only conclude that Senator Cynthia may well be rooted in the belief that the family she grew up in — the Aguilars, a long-dominant political dynasty in Las Piñas — has a birthright to control and leadership in the city. Is this why she speaks this way?
Does she genuinely view political positions in her hometown as an inheritance for her family rather than as a privilege earned through free and fair elections? Such an attitude is deeply concerning, as it undermines the fundamental democratic principle of public office being a public trust.
The local rival of the Aguilars and the senator’s opponent when she runs for the city’s congressional seat this year, Las Piñas Councilor Mark Anthony Santos, refuted her claims outright.
According to Santos, the 5-hectare lot in Sitio Pugad Lawin, home to 4,800 residents, has never been owned by the Villar or Aguilar families. He even cited records from the City Assessor’s Office, reflecting that the land has been under the name of Camilo Sabio and his wife since the 1980s.
“Imagine distributing land that isn’t even yours just to secure votes. This shows their greed,” Santos was quoted by media as saying.
Labor leader and lawyer Atty. Luke Espiritu lambasted the senator, calling her statements coercive tactics that exemplify the abuses perpetuated by political dynasties. Espiritu called out the Villars’ alleged history of exploiting land ownership issues to their advantage, which in the process has supposedly displaced communities.
Finally, YouTube lawyer Atty. Claire Castro urged the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to probe this incident immediately. She said NBI Director Jimmy Santiago must get to the bottom of this attempt to strip voters of their freedom to choose by way of threatening their basic hopes of land ownership.
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