Malayang Halalan

Interview transcript of Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile regarding Villar bribery attempt

Juan Ponce Enrile talks about Senator Manny Villar’s alleged bribery try to drop the C-5 ethics complaint:

He asked for a lunch with me, and I cancelled the lunch. And without an announcement, he came to the office and I talked to him. And he was pleading with me to help him, but I told him, “Manny,” I said, I am the chairman of the committee, I cannot take sides. I’ll have to preside over the hearing of your case, and I would suggest that you assign some of your lawyers to participate so that they can object to the presentation of evidence, if there are any objectionable evidence presented against you. And at the same time, you assemble your own evidence and present it to us in the committee so that we can take into account your evidence, when we prepare the report. Well, somehow I noticed that there was an effort to really convince me to go soft on him.

Manny Villar refuses to give political foes satisfaction over C-5 controversy

Manny Villar: “I have always faced the music. But I did not dance to their music and never will. I addressed the Filipino people directly about the C-5 issue. I am available to media to answer questions. My opponents want to make me a whipping boy to boost their political plans. Why should I give them the satisfaction?”