Learning from the stunning fall of Cynthia Villar

The richest woman politician in the country today is not Sara Duterte, not even First Lady Liza Cacho Araneta-Marcos. It is Cynthia Aguilar-Villar. Before May 12, she looked invincible like Gwen Garcia in Cebu. But look at her now, badly battered, defeated and humbled. What happened?

Talking about highly surprising upsets in the last midterm elections, like the unexpected defeats of senators Bong Revilla, Tol Tolentino and Manny Pacquiao, as well as strange losses suffered by Governor Gwen Garcia in Cebu, all were stunned by the bitter political debacle suffered by incumbent Senator Cynthia Villar in the lone congressional district of Las Piñas.

The lady senator must have expected an easy walk in the park when she and incumbent congresswoman Camille Villar decided to exchange positions. The mother is term-limited and could not run for senator this time. To our observation, Camille did not want to run for senator as her current post is her own safe space and comfort zone. Anyway, many of us may not know about this, the positions of a senator and a congresswoman have the same salaries, the same job grade, JG 31 but the scope of responsibilities do vary a lot. The constituency of a senator is national while the district of Las Piñas is too small, comparable only to the barangay of Guadalupe in Cebu City.

Nobody expected Cynthia Villar to be defeated by a virtual unknown. Well, in fairness, long-time Las Piñas Councilor Mark Anthony Santos may be unknown nationally, but he is a household name in this tiny city. He has been a councilor for no less than 21 years. Santos is the most trusted political ally of the Aguilar family, and was, for the longest time, the right hand man of Nene Aguilar, the brother of senator Cynthia. It was providential Cynthia and Nene had a falling out in the last elections. Without the Aguilars in Las Piñas, the Villars could not win any local post in that city.

Somehow I am interested in this development because my residential house in BF Homes Executive Village is located right in the boundary between Las Piñas and Paranaque. My kitchen and garage are on the Las Piñas side while my law office and sala are on the side of Paranaque. My four bedrooms on the second floor are also evenly divided between the two cities. Our postal address is in Las Piñas but we pay our real estate taxes in Paranaque and we are also registered voters in that city. Nonetheless, silently, I felt happy that a simple guy like Santos was able to defeat the matriarch of the richest Filipino families.

Cynthia's unexpected electoral upset in the last elections was a perfect storm created by the Villars themselves, and was a disaster waiting to happen. The proximate cause of it all could be traced to the decision of the Villars to put up a slate to oppose the daughter of Nene Aguilar who was running and was elected mayor of Las Piñas. Such a decision by the Villars was a virtual declaration of war by the Villars against the Aguilars. The wife of Nene was running and was elected vice mayor. Cynthia's slate was defeated by the well-entrenched Aguilar political empire. Santos was the collateral beneficiary of the unfortunate breaking up between the Villars and the Aguilars.

We should all remember that Las Piñas was small town of Rizal, just like the neighboring Muntinlupa, Paranaque, Taguig, Makati and Pasay, as well as Mandaluyong, San Juan, Pasig and Marikina, until the late President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. created the Metro Manila and the National Capital region. From that time, the political kingpin of Las Piñas was Dr. Filemon Aguilar, just as Nemesio Yabut was the kingpin of Makati and Pablo Cuneta (Sharon's late dad) was the political lord of Pasay. Dr. Aguilar was a former municipal health officer who prospered due to his successful medical practice. He purchased a lot of real estate in that town and in neighboring Cavite.

When a guy from Tondo, Manuel Villar, married Cyntia, daughter of Dr. Filemon Aguilar, Manny incorporated a company using the lands of the Aguilars and started to build the real estate giant, Camella Homes. The Aguilars have the lands but Manny has the business acumen and the entrepreneurial expertise.  Then Cynthia and Manny took over the political legacy of Dr. Filemon and the Villars with the Aguilars easily defeated the other politicians in Las Piñas. They always dominated the politics of Las Piñas. But the game changer was the Villars' decision to oppose the Aguilars last election.

The result was devastating to the Villars. It was a major faux pas, Cynthia underestimated the strength of her own brother and sister-in-law. Not only was Cynthia defeated by Mark Anthony Santos and so, they lost the congressional seat. The candidacy of Camille Villar also suffered a major setback when Camile only got sixth place in Las Piñas. Bam Aquino topped the Senate race in that city, followed by Bong Go, Kiko Pangilinan, Ping Lacson and Tito Sotto, then Camille in that order. The seventh placer was Heidi Mendoza, followed by Erwin Tulfo, Bato dela Rosa, Pia Cayetano, Abby Binay and Colonel Bosita. Bong Revilla was rejected by Las Pinas just like Revillame, Philip Salvador and Pacman.

The fall of Cynthia Villar in Las Piñas is not unlike the fall of Gwendolyn Garcia in Cebu. The people do not like arrogance in high offices and abrasiveness in dealing with dissenting opinions. The voters are reminding politicians that they are only public servants and not lords and ladies in serfdom and lordships. These upsets are loud reminders, since trapos seem to keep forgetting that sovereignty resides in the people and all authority emanates from them. The fall of Cynthia Villar is the peoples' way of slapping the faces of members of political dynasties and business empires that seek to make the people their virtual vassals in servitude,

There is always a good lesson to gain from all misfortunes. This one is among the best of them all. Cynthia, like Gwen, should learn the virtue of humility. Greatness will never come to the proud and the arrogant. They would fall even before they rise again.