Las Piñas Councilor Mark Anthony Santos announced on Tuesday that he will face billionaire Senator Cynthia Villar for the city’s lone congressional seat. Villar will end her term as senator on 30 June, 2025.

“I’d rather die fighting than withdrawing from the race,” said Santos, the top councilor from the city’s District 1, adding that he will not back down, even though his opponent is the richest individual and politician in the country.

Santos, former chief of staff of the late Las Piñas Mayor Vergel Aguilar, is a seven-term city councilor and an advocate for socialized housing and in-city relocation, aligning with the Marcos administration’s national housing projects.

He has gained significant experience as an elected minority leader and was the main author of a resolution allocating an P85 million budget for land acquisition for informal settlers.

Villar tax issues

Santos is also the author of the 2023 council resolution seeking to collect delinquent real property taxes amounting to P213.55 million from five companies owned or managed by the Villar family.

According to Santos, the Villar group of companies still owes the city government more than P70 million in taxes and penalties.

Villar, however, claimed that there were numerous errors concerning the names of taxpayers, the estimated market value of the real property being taxed, and the taxes levied on Brittany Corp.

She has stated that they are willing to settle their obligations.

In 2001, the 74-year-old Villar was elected as the representative of Las Piñas, where she completed three terms until 2010. In the 2013 midterm elections, Villar ran and won as senator. She was re-elected in the 2019.

Villar’s son Mark is also a senator, while her daughter Camille is the current representative of the city’s lone congressional district. Their father, Manny Villar, is a former Senate president and Speaker of the House.

“Despite the political dynasty of the Villar clan for the past three decades, napapag iwanan pa rin ang Las Pinas in terms of development and improvement among the city’s in Metro Manila,“ Santos pointed out. “It’s disgusting”.

He added that Villar is getting old and should consider stepping away from politics, thereby allowing younger politicians a chance to lead the city.