Rethink DPWH post, Villar urged

Las Piñas Rep. Mark Villar was urged yesterday to rethink his acceptance of incoming president Rodrigo Duterte’s offer for him to be secretary of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

Election Lawyer Romulo Macalintal made the appeal “as a resident of Las Piñas and as a constituent of Rep. Villar.”

He said it is questionable for his newly reelected congressman “on both legal and moral grounds” to accept the DPWH post without first doing his job as a representative of their city.

He added that Villar could be violating the law if he chooses to serve as DPWH secretary. Macalintal said that under Section 234 of the Revised Penal Code, it is unlawful for elected officials to refuse to discharge their elective office.

“Any elected official who refuses to take his oath of office or refuses to discharge the duties of that office shall be held liable… with a penalty of one month to six months’ imprisonment,” he said.

Macalintal maintained that there is also a question of “delicadeza” on Villar’s move.

“When he was campaigning, he never mentioned that he may be appointed. Now that he was elected, he is turning his back on us. We will be left with no representative at the House of Representatives,” he added.

Macalintal also said a special election will have to be conducted, and this would mean additional expenses of P100 million, on top of the amount already spent for the May 9 voting in Las Piñas.

“This is against the austerity policy of presidentelect Duterte,” he stressed.

He added that Villar should serve as congressmen first “before resigning if his assumption as DPWH secretary cannot be withheld any longer.”

However, House Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales ll said he knows of no law or precedent barring a newly elected congressman from accepting a post in the executive branch.

This should be left to the judgment of the concerned lawmaker, he said. He said if Rep. Villar accepts the DPWH job, then indeed a new election would have to be conducted in Las Piñas.

For his part, Commission on Elections ( Comelec) Chairman Andres Bautista said that it is up to Congress to declare a vacancy in Villar’s seat.

Villar, who is on his third and last term, is the son of former senator Manuel Villar Jr. and incumbent Sen. Cynthia Villar.

The Villar couple and their son were in Davao City last Monday, when Duterte offered the DPWH post to the young Villar.

Macalintal said he agreed with the Villars’ critics that there is also a conflict-ofinterest issue in Rep. Villar’s acceptance of the post since his family is involved in real estate development.

In 2010, the same issue was raised against then senator Villar who was running for president, when it was exposed that he had a “double funding” in the national budget for a road that traversed his real estate development projects in Muntinlupa and Las Piñas. –