COUNCILOR Mark Anthony Santos of Las Piñas’ first district filed his certificate of candidacy (CoC) for the city’s lone congressional seat on Sunday, marking the start of what he described as the “toughest and hardest battle” of his political career.
Running as an independent candidate, Santos is taking on a formidable opponent in Sen. Cynthia Villar, setting the stage for a David-and-Goliath showdown in the May 2025 midterm elections.
Santos, a seven-term councilor, said he decided to run despite advice from friends, family and political allies to reconsider running against Villar, a veteran government official and legislator.
The filing of his CoC came a day ahead of the filing by his former party-mates, led by Las Piñas mayoral candidate April Aguilar-Nery and incumbent Mayor Imelda Aguilar, who is running for vice mayor.
Aguilar-Nery’s camp, which also includes 12 candidates for city council from Las Piñas’ two districts, has secured a certificate of nomination and acceptance from the National People’s Coalition, under the leadership of former Senate president Tito Sotto.
He said his campaign focuses on his desire to represent the marginalized sectors of the city, including informal settlers, youth organizations, and labor groups.
Despite his experience, Santos acknowledged that taking on Villar would be no small feat.
As Las Piñas councilor, he was the author of the resolution that sought to collect delinquent real property taxes amounting to P213.55 million from the five companies owned or managed by the Villars.
Santos said the Villar group of companies still owes the city government around P70 million in taxes and penalties.
But Senator Villar responded by pointing out that several of the Statements of Account (SoAs) issued by the city government contained errors, prompting them to request a correction of the records.
Villar said multiple inaccuracies were found in the SoAs, including incorrect names of taxpayers, erroneous estimated market values for the properties in question, and miscalculations in the taxes imposed.
She said these errors involved various Villar-owned entities, notably Brittany Corp. and the Villar Foundation. Among the discrepancies was an instance where taxes were levied on Brittany Corp. for land that had been converted into a public road. Additionally, the real property tax for Mella Hotel, a Villar-owned establishment, was incorrectly charged to the private Villar Foundation.
Villar stated they had already communicated these issues to the Las Piñas City Assessor’s Office, asking for the SoAs to be rectified. Despite the discrepancies, she said, the Villar companies moved to settle their obligations.
In a communication sent to The Manila Times, the counsels of the Villar companies said that on Nov. 30, 2023, they paid a total of P151.8 million to the City Treasurer, which included an advance payment on their 2024 real property taxes. The following day, on Dec. 1, 2023, the City Treasurer issued the corresponding tax clearances for the properties.
While the payments were made, Villar emphasized that should any outstanding taxes remain after the SoAs are corrected, their companies would willingly pay the balance.
Villar served as representative of Las Piñas after being elected in 2001. She completed three terms (nine years) of service. In the 2013 midterm elections, Villar ran and won as senator.
In the 2019 national elections, Villar was reelected as senator.
Villar’s husband, Manny, was a former Senate president. Their son Mark is currently serving as senator, while their daughter Camille is the incumbent Las Piñas representative.
On the other hand, three-time Las Pinas councilor Carlo Aguilar, the son of Christian Aguilar, the elder brother of Sen. Cynthia Villar, is being groomed for the top post in the city.
They are all running under the umbrella of the Nacionalista Party.
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