MANILA, Philippines — The Villars and Aguilars, long-time political allies in Las Piñas City, have split.
For the past three decades, the two families were together in one political umbrella. This is now a thing of the past.
The fracture between the two Las Piñas political clans came after Sen. Cynthia Villar, who is now in her last term, announced last July that she was eyeing either the mayoral or congressional seat in the city in the 2025 midterm election under the Nacionalista Party (NP) which is headed by her husband, former Senate president Manny Villar.
Sen. Villar also confirmed that her daughter, Las Pinas Rep. Camille Villar, will run for the Senate.
This move prompted incumbent Las Piñas Mayor Imelda Aguilar and her daughter, incumbent Vice Mayor April Aguilar-Neri, to abandon NP. The mother and daughter team said they would be joining another political party before the filing of the certificate of candidacy for the midterm election next month.
Mayor Aguilar, wife of the late Las Piñas mayor Vergel “Nene” Aguilar, and her sister-in-law were together under the NP umbrella in the 2022 national elections.
On the other hand, the possible opponent of Sen. Villar for the congressional seat is Las Pinas 1st District Councilor Mark Anthony Santos.
Santos, who ran as an independent candidate but campaigned for the Aguilars and Villars during the last elections, also announced his intention to leave the camp of the Villars.
Since the two families are no longer together under NP for next year’s election, Santos revealed that the Aguilars and their political leaders will not endorse and campaign for Rep. Camille Villar.
He added that when Sen. Mark Villar ran for the Senate in the 2022 elections, he only placed second to Sen. Loren Legarda, in the official count in the city.
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