Billionaire eyes presidency

MANILA - A SELF-MADE billionaire who once lived in Manila's slums wants to become the next president of the Philippines, saying his entrepreneurial acumen and experience as a politician would be vital assets in leading the nation.

Mr Manuel Villar, 59, has headed both the Senate and the House of Representatives in a political career that has lasted 17 years. His family owns Vista Land & Lifescapes , a real estate firm with assets worth 48 billion pesos (S$1.54 billion).

'The next president of this country, whoever he is, should on day one know how to manage this country, day one,' Mr Villar said in an interview on Sunday in an austere office that serves as his party headquarters in one of the three malls he owns in Manila. 'There is no OJT (on-the-job training) anymore, we cannot afford it. At the very least, you must have shown capability to manage, capability to lead.'

Mr Villar is viewed as a formidable candidate because of his ability to fund a costly election campaign that would need at least 2-3 billion pesos, a huge sum for a country where nearly 50 per cent of households live on less than US$2 a day.

'I believe that while a lot of us will be announcing our candidacies, in the end there will just be a few who will remain,' Villar said. 'If you can't even raise one billion pesos, why even run?'

Mr Villar is the only politician so far who has declared his candidacy for the presidential polls, to be held in May next year Other leading figures, mostly senators, in the Philippines' multi-party political system are considering their chances and have started touring the provinces to push their candidacy.

Independent pollster Pulse Asia's latest survey showed Villar tied with former President Joseph Estrada in second place among choices to be the next president. Vice President Manuel 'Noli' de Castro, a close friend of Villar, was on top.

The son of a low-ranking government worker and a seafood vendor, Villar set up a construction supply firm that made him a peso millionaire at age 26. He later graduated to selling low-cost houses which swelled his total assets to the billion dollar mark just before the 1997/1998 Asian financial crisis.

He says he wants to use lessons gained while running his business and reviving it from near-total failure during the Asian crisis to boost the local economy and uplift the poor. -- REUTERS