Hours after his 86-year-old mother made a tearful public appeal, embattled presidential bet Manuel Villar said he had no idea his family had decided to face the media in his defense.
“'Di ko nga alam na in-interview ang mother ko eh. Ininterview ba ang mother ko? (I didn't know that my mother was interviewed. Was she interviewed?)” Villar asked reporters on the sidelines of a presidential forum Monday night.
Wheelchair-bound Curita Villar faced the media in her Las Piñas City home on Monday morning with daughters Lourdes, Cecille, Gloria V. Benedicto and Vicky V. Divinagracia by her side.
Recalling her struggle as a fish vendor at the Divisoria market in Manila, she said her eldest son helped the family get through hard times.
The Nacionalista Party standard-bearer, however, said he knew that his mother was hurt by recent reports that have been coming out against him.
Villar did not specify but the camp of his presidential rival, deposed President Joseph Estrada, last week came out with charges that the senator had earned an undeclared P26 billion by manipulating the stock exchange.
The senator has been struggling to belie charges that he had used his position in the Senate to divert the planned extension of C-5 Road to his property to make money. Doubts also surround his claim that he grew up in poverty in Moriones, Tondo and overcame through hard work, the thrust of his campaign.
“I've been getting too much negative news lately. It's like everything I say is always wrong, but everything I read is wrong. That's not me. How they describe me in the papers and television, that's not me,” Villar said.
He spoke to reporters just before taking the stage of a presidential forum at the Araneta Coliseum Monday night.
The demands of a nationwide campaign have been keeping him away from his mother but Villar said he knew that his mother has long been taking offense at attacks against him.
“Lately I haven't visited her because I'm very busy in the campaign. But I visit her often and I know that she feels very bad about what's happening,” he said.
“She can't see but she listens to the radio and hears TV reports. And she knows that [reports against me] are just lies,” Villar said.
Asked if his sisters spoke about plans to go public, Villar said: “No. But maybe they just can't take it anymore. We've been talking about it (accusations against him) for a long time.”
The senator also said he felt bad that the media has been giving him unfair treatment.
“Masama rin ang loob ko sa ibang kaibigan natin sa media. I see that what's been happening is not right anymore. I've been working all my life. I've been working since I was seven years old. It's not right that everything I do is wrong or that they will criticize me for everything I do,” Villar said.
While hounded by such issues, Villar said he would focus on the remaining days of the campaign and on keeping watch of the voting process and vote count come May 10.
Senators Richard Gordon and Jamby Madrigal meanwhile said Villar should not use his mother in his campaign.
“You know, I don't use my mother and father in my campaign,” said Gordon.
Madrigal said Villar should “not be such a coward.”
“Don't hide under the skirt of wife (Rep. Cynthia Villar) and now your mother. If you want to run for president, learn to defend yourself. That's the thing about Villar. He can't defend himself, he even uses his mother,” said the staunch Villar critic.
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