These unprecedented moves could change the country
Ang was so powerful that he had a bill passed at an unprecedented speed of 18 weeks by the House of Representatives (authored by Representatives Joey Sarte Salceda, Sharon Garin, and Conrado Estrella) that would have given a 25-year franchise to his e-sabong company, Lucky 8 Star Quest Inc. A few months earlier, Lucky 8 had already secured a license to operate from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor), an indication of his strong political connections. Rumors in the House said that Ang spent P2 billion to secure the votes of 115 congressmen.
This was a scandalous demonstration of power over the House by a shadowy tycoon who was widely known as controlling the lucrative illegal numbers game called jueteng in Luzon. Ang’s “fast-break” to secure a franchise that would likely outlive him was broken by allegations that broke out that his gang was responsible for the horrendous killing of 34 cockfighting enthusiasts suspected of cheating one way or another in the games in the gambling tycoon’s e-sabong. Ang and his gang allegedly decided to murder them as a lesson to other players, since cheating threatened the popularity of this kind of televised operations.
Because of the widespread outrage that broke out over these allegations, with the Senate undertaking televised hearings in which tearful wives and mothers of the victims gave testimonies, senators wouldn’t touch Atong’s bill, and by March 2022, it was practically dead in the water.
Three years later, a justice department panel in December 2025 found probable cause to indict Ang and 21 others for 10 counts of kidnapping with homicide in relation to the missing sabungeros. In January 2026, three regional trial courts (Sta. Cruz, Laguna, and Lipa City, Batangas) issued non‑bailable arrest warrants against Ang and several co‑accused for kidnapping with homicide.
Outrage
Ang, however, could not be found, despite several teams of the National Bureau of Investigation and the police hunting him, with recent reports claiming he had fled abroad, prompting the interior and local government to offer a P20 million reward for information leading to his capture. This is the biggest reward offered by the government ever, with those for top New People’s Army and Communist Party leaders as well as other high-profile fugitives never more than P6 million.
This is unprecedented. Ang reportedly spent over P2 billion as bribes in the bureaucracy and in the judiciary to stop the move against him, to no avail. The richest gambling lord in the country has been a fugitive.
While Ang is in that faction of the ruling class in the netherworld of gambling, Manuel Villar, on the other hand, has been with the crème de la crème of the country’s big capitalist class as well as of the political elite. He is ranked third as the richest Filipino (after the Sys of SM and Enrique Razon), owner of a property and, more recently, a mall conglomerate. As he is the only non-mestizo among the tycoons, he has dubbed himself the “brown taipan.”
Villar stands way above these tycoons, as he acquired powerful political power early in his career. He first became Las Piñas representative in 1998, became House speaker that same year (most probably because of his financial clout), and then senator for two terms, from 2007 to 2013. Villar is the only senator to have his wife, a son (Mark), and a daughter (Camille) also take Senate seats. He even ran for president in 2010, finishing third. In short, with Villar’s enormous political power, his wealth, and a career in politics and business untainted by any wrongdoing, it was unthinkable for any government agency to go after him.
Criminal
The Securities and Exchange Commission has gone after the Villars, not only against their conglomerate but their persons. The SEC last Jan. 31 issued a press release that it “has filed a criminal complaint against Villar Land Holdings Corp., its related entities, and their respective officers for market manipulation, insider trading and misleading disclosures that distorted the company’s share prices and misled the investing public.” Significantly, the press release was issued even before the Justice Department, with which the SEC had filed the complaint, had accepted and evaluated it. It would be the DOJ that has to file the case in court.
Villar Land Holdings Corp., which anchors the group’s grand “Villar City” property narrative in southern Metro Manila and Cavite, stunned the market in 2004 by disclosing a supposed leap in assets to around P1.33 trillion and net income close to P1 trillion, up from roughly P1.46 billion the previous year — almost entirely driven by a revaluation of its real estate portfolio, particularly land tied to Villar City. These headline numbers were released before a full external audit, inflating perceptions of the company’s scale and profitability and feeding a dramatic stock run‑up.
When auditors later completed their work, the fantasy collapsed. Audited statements showed assets of only about P35.7 billion, not P1.33 trillion — a staggering downshift that demolished the supposed trillion‑peso profit story. Regulators found that the earlier valuation reports failed to meet international standards; the appraiser, E‑Value Phils Inc., subsequently had its accreditation revoked and was fined for “unreliable” reports.
The SEC also alleges insider trading. A specific case involves Villar’s daughter, Sen. Camille Villar, whom regulators say bought 73,600 shares in December 2017 just days before a corporate disclosure that led to a sharp price increase, suggesting trading based on material non‑public information.
Villar Land and Manuel Villar have publicly denied any wrongdoing, saying they will answer the allegations in the proper forum. My sources in the stock market say nobody in the listed firms is sad about the clampdown on Villar and his companies.
Crashed
Villar Land’s shares were first suspended in May 2025 due to failure to file audited financials and unresolved questions on the revaluation. When trading finally resumed in November 2025, the stock crashed about 76 percent within days, erasing hundreds of billions of pesos in market capitalization. One report estimated that Villar Land lost more than half its value almost immediately, with market cap plunging by roughly P775 billion — from about P1.5 trillion before suspension to around P725 billion — after the revaluation was effectively scrapped by the auditor.
This crash has hammered Manuel Villar’s personal wealth. Bloomberg estimates cited in coverage say his net worth fell about 65 percent year on year, wiping out around $11–12 billion. The wipeout is not just a headline; it reflects how central Villar Land’s inflated valuations had become to narratives about “Villar City” and the group’s future.
SEC chairman Francis Lim — appointed to the post in June last year — was a senior partner at the Angara Abello Concepcion Regala & Cruz Law Offices (Accra Law), reportedly the most expensive law firm in the country. Lim even pontificated in the press release that announced the filing of criminal charges against Villar and his companies: “Building investor confidence in the Philippines is crucial in driving the inclusive and sustainable growth of our capital market and business sector for national development.”
The rule of law and the low incidence of corruption, in well-governed countries, didn’t take hold overnight, but started with unprecedented moves that became precedents. In Hong Kong, the trigger were revelations that a top British police officer had amassed millions of dollars, and kept it in secret bank accounts abroad. In the US, it was the so-called “Teapot Dome Scandal,” in which bribes were given to the secretary in charge of leasing federal oil reserves, that helped develop an anti-corruption ethos in the bureaucracy. I hope the unprecedented attack on Ang and the Villars — if the charges prove true — become such precedents for this country.
However, there are certainly rumors why this government has gone against the two — that Ang had scrimped on his bribes, especially for the top dog, and that Camille Villar was believed to be supporting Vice President Sara Duterte. Still, though, the unintended consequence — the precedent that even the powerful can be brought down — will be good for this pathetic country. It will indeed immediately do some good: Marcos’ 15-senator bloc will be reduced to 13, minus Mark and Camille Villar, who would likely join the opposition bloc to increase the latter’s numbers to 11 — which means it needs just three more senators to become the majority.
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These unprecedented moves could change the country
Source: Breaking News PH
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