Former Senator Cynthia Villar has denied allegations that she personally acquired a contested property in Bacoor, Cavite, clarifying that the land is owned by a real estate company affiliated with her family.
In a statement, Villar said circulating online posts inaccurately portrayed her as the direct buyer of the property. She emphasized that, as a public official at the time, she was prohibited from engaging in private business transactions.
“These prohibitions are well-established and form part of the ethical standards governing public officials,” she noted in a statement.
The issue involves the so-called Moonwalk property, previously owned by Moonwalk Development and Housing Corporation.
Ownership was later transferred to Fine Properties, Inc., another company under the Villar family, through a Memorandum of Agreement dated June 3, 2022.
According to Villar’s camp, the property had already been classified as non-agricultural before the enactment of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) in 1988. A legal dispute concerning the land, involving a certain Mr. Alonzo, was elevated to the Office of the President to determine whether CARP coverage applied.
“There was a case involving the subject property which subsequently reached the Office of the President concerning the applicability of CARP coverage and the petition to lift the Notice of Coverage, as well as an application for exemption clearance under DOJ Opinion No. 44,” Villar’s camp explained.
Records cited by her camp show that while a regional office of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) initially denied the request to lift the Notice of Coverage, the agency’s central office later overturned the decision. The Office of the President affirmed this ruling in July 2021.
The statement came in response to claims from the Alonzo family, who alleged they had cultivated the land for decades and were displaced despite holding land titles.
Villar’s camp also warned of possible legal action against individuals accused of spreading false information about the property’s ownership.