A Villar split: Why is Mark Villar breaking ranks with sister Camille? - Rappler
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Two roads diverged in the Senate on Wednesday, September 23 — and the Villar siblings took different ones.
Senator-judge Mark Villar broke ranks with his sister, Senator-judge Camille Villar, and the Senate minority bloc in a surprise vote on two key motions during the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.
On Wednesday, the Senate impeachment court heard oral arguments from the defense and prosecution panels on the September 8 appeal of Senator-judge Erwin Tulfo seeking to overturn the July 6 ruling of impeachment court presiding officer Francis “Chiz” Escudero, which set the voting threshold for Duterte’s conviction to 16.
Tulfo also wanted the court to revisit the denominator for the voting threshold amid the absence of Senator-judges Loren Legarda, Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, Rodante Marcoleta, and Jinggoy Estrada.
Legarda remains on extended medical leave abroad, while Dela Rosa is in hiding due to an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court over alleged crimes against humanity stemming from the Duterte administration’s drug war.
Marcoleta and Estrada are detained over separate plunder charges.
But before the court proceeded with the voting, Senator-judge Alan Peter Cayetano — who also serves as the Senate minority leader — made a last-minute bid to defer the vote, arguing that the impeachment court had no authority to interpret the Constitution.
Members of the Senate minority bloc, including Camille, voted in favor of Cayetano, except Mark, who abstained. Thirteen senator-judges then moved to junk the appeal, paving the way for the subsequent voting on Tulfo’s motion.
Mark voted to approve Tulfo’s motion. He was also the sole member of the Senate minority bloc present during the voting. Other minority senators opted to boycott it and not participate in the afternoon proceedings.
For Senator-judge Imee Marcos, the older Villar’s recent graft complaints might be related to the voting decisions.
“Well, we are aware of what he is experiencing. So, let us see his decisions,” Marcos told reporters.
Pressed for details, she added: “We know what’s happening with the minority senators. We are all being attacked.”
The Office of the Ombudsman previously said graft complaints were now pending against members of the Villar family due to allegations related to their PrimeWater Infrastructure Corporation. This includes the senator-siblings, their parents and former senators Manny and Cynthia Villar, and businessman Paolo Villar.
Mark’s divergence from the bloc came as other minority members face their own legal or political troubles. Apart from the four absentee senators, Padilla was issued a subpoena in relation to the obstruction of justice complaint filed against him over his alleged involvement in Dela Rosa’s escape from Senate premises in May.
Litigator and Free Legal Assistance Group member Raffy Aquino said in a Rappler interview that the Villar siblings’ votes could point to one of two things: they either “demonstrated how it is to vote according to one’s conscience,” or it was a strategy to have a foot on either side of the door. – Rappler.com
