IT would be ’David versus Goliath’ in Las Piñas congressional race in next year’s midterm elections and this would surely be an exciting fight to watch.
Incumbent and veteran Councilor Mark Anthony Santos, according to a source, is hell-bent in facing billionaire Senator Cynthia Villar for the lone congressional seat of the city.
“I’d rather die fighting than withdrawing from the race,” said the topnotch councilor from the city’s lone district, adding that he will not back out even if his opponent is the richest individual and politician in the entire country.
Santos, former chief of staff of the late Mayor Vergel Aguilar, the senator’s brother, is a seventh-term councilor and an advocate of socialized housing and in-city relocation in support of Marcos administration’s housing projects nationwide.
He earned a wealth of experience as an elected minority leader and main author of a resolution allocating the P85-million budget for land acquisition for informal settlers.
Santos is the author of the 2023 council resolution that sought to collect delinquent real property taxes amounting to P213.55-million to the five companies owned or managed by the Villars.
The Villar group of companies still owes the city government more than P70-million in taxes and penalties, according to him.
However, Villar claimed that there were numerous errors covering the names of the taxpayers, the taxes levied on Brittany Corp., among others.
She assured that they’d be more than willing to settle their obligations.
In 2001, Villar, 74, won as city representative, completing the three terms or nine years of service.
In the 2013 elections, she ran and won as senator and also in 2019.
Villar’s son Mark is also an incumbent senator while her daughter Camille is the current city representative.
Their father, Manny, is a former Senate president and House Speaker.
“Despite the political dynasty of the Villar clan for the past three decades, napag-iwanan pa rin ang Las Pinas in terms of development and improvement among the cities in Metro Manila.It’s disgusting,” he said.
He added that she’s already old and must enjoy her remaining years away from political life and instead give the other younger politicians a chance to lead the city.
