Las Piñas hounds Villar over P70-M unpaid taxes

The Villar Group of Companies is being pursued by the Las Piñas City local government for allegedly failing to settle its P70 million balance in real property taxes (RPT) and penalties, which have accumulated for more than a decade.

Las Piñas Councilor Mark Anthony Santos disclosed in a statement to DAILY TRIBUNE that, out of the P213 million in accumulated taxes and penalties, the Villar Group of Companies has only paid P151 million in RPT for several assets in the city as of November 2023.

Records from the city treasurer’s office show that Mella Hotel, located at Villar Sipag on C5 Extension Road, Las Piñas, has not paid real property tax since it opened to the public five years ago.

In a letter to the Mayor’s Office dated December 2022, Romeo Sabater, a representative of Villar’s Brittany Corp., requested a waiver of the penalty for its real property tax debt of P47,177,450.41 under eight tax declaration numbers.

Sabater assured the city government that if their request is approved, they are “willing to pay the basic taxes amounting to P90,582,46.30 within 12 months.”

Similarly, Momar Santos, representing the Villar Sipag at Tiyaga Foundation Inc., has appealed to the city government to waive the penalty for its real property tax debt of P1,958,439.19 under two tax declaration numbers. He said that if the request is approved, they would pay the basic taxes amounting to P3,328,103.50 within three months.

However, Councilor Santos, the author of the 2022 approved city council resolution on the collection of delinquent real property taxes, dismissed Sabater and Santos’ requests, saying, “That’s old style. Pay your taxes to the local government.”

“Everybody knows, not only in the Philippines, that the Villars are the richest family, yet they don’t pay taxes in their city. A very sad reality,” Santos remarked.

Business heavyweight

Former Senate President Manny Villar is the chairman of Vista Land and Lifescapes, the largest homebuilder in the Philippines.

The billionaire businessman also holds stakes in Golden Bria Holdings, a property and death care company, and Vistamalls, a shopping mall operator.

AllValue Holdings Inc. serves as the Villar Group’s holding company for its investments in retail businesses, including AllHome, AllDay Supermarket, AllDay Convenience Store, Coffee Project, AllSports, AllToys, AllBank, Bake My Day, Finds Finds, Kinder City and Wake Up Café, among others.

Both AllDay and AllHome were listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange in the past three years.

Santos said the Villar Group of Companies, including Brittany Corporation, Villar Sipag Center, Villar Sipag at Tiyaga Foundation, Mella Hotel, three Evia buildings, and Portofino Commercial, still owes the city government more than P70 million in taxes and penalties.

“The Villar Group of Companies’ tax obligations to the city government accumulated both before and after the Covid-19 pandemic,” the city councilor stated.

From 2019 to 2023, Forbes magazine named Villar the richest individual in the Philippines, with an estimated net worth of $11 billion or around P637 billion.

Councilor Santos pointed out that the Villars are also one of the richest and most influential political families, not only in Las Piñas but throughout the country.

The Villars, one of the largest election spenders, have another incumbent family member in the Senate, Sen. Mark Villar, whose term expires in 2028.

Manny Villar, the family patriarch, began his political career in 1992 as a representative of the Las Piñas-Muntinlupa at-large district. He later became Las Piñas congressman from 1998 to 2001. Villar ran and won a Senate seat in the 2001 elections and was eventually elected Senate president.

As a former Las Piñas representative and Senate president, Santos said Villar should set an example and serve as a role model for the city’s taxpayers and entrepreneurs by paying his taxes promptly and regularly.

Santos added that the proposed amnesty for penalties incurred by residents and businesses, including Villar companies, has not yet been discussed or deliberated by the majority of city councilors as of August.

Santos is a known ally of Las Piñas Mayor Imelda Aguilar, who would be challenged in her reelection bid next year — according to reports — by last-term Senator Cynthia Villar, her sister-in-law.