If General Douglas MacArthur famously said, “I shall return,” former Senator Cynthia Villar stood by her words, “Hindi na ako babalik (I shall never return)” when DAILY TRIBUNE asked if she’s mulling a political comeback.

The former solon, also fondly called “Mrs. Sipag at Tiyaga,” thanks to her husband, former Senate President Manny Villar’s presidential campaign slogan “Sipag at Tiyaga” (hard work and determination), would rather spend that sipag and tiyaga on the farm instead of in politics.

“Pero hindi ko naman kailangan (But I really don’t need to),” she said about working for a public office again. “Babayaran naman ni Manny ang aking household expenses (After all, Manny will pay for my household expenses),” she joked.

She stressed that she works so that Villar Foundation’s Villar SIPAG Farm School, which gives free sustainable farming training to farmers all over the country, earns stable income for its own staff — and former Senator Manny has nothing to do with it: “Walang pakialamanan (No bothering each other),” Senator Cynthia quipped.

The farm school by the border of Las Piñas and Cavite, after all, serves as a role model to the 2016 Farm Tourism Law that Senator Cynthia passed to encourage farmers from the provinces to convert their properties into tourist farms to augment their income and to convince the youth that there is no shame in being and dreaming to become a farmer — just like senators Cynthia and Manny that have been proud of their humble beginnings.

Simple, sustainable living

“Kami ni Manny, mahirap ang buhay namin noon. Sobrang hirap (Manny and I, our life was so hard then. Very hard),” with hectares of land and gated communities carrying the Villar name all over the country, it sounded very surreal as Senator Cynthia shared these, but one can feel the weight of that difficult past from her voice.

Senators Cynthia and Manny met while studying at the College of Business Administration at the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman in the late ‘60s. After college, Senator Manny worked as a financial analyst and an accountant. They married at age 25. Senator Cynthia could still clearly recall that their wedding was only modest and didn’t have so much fanfare.

Unknown to many, their first business was not the Camella Homes subdivision but gravel and sand delivery, financed with borrowed capital. She said they chose these as they are non-perishable.

Camella takes root

“’Yung kita n’ya (Manny) ng first three years, ‘yun ‘yung ibinili n’ya ng Camella Homes. Nakitira kami sa nanay ko para wala kaming gastos (What Manny earned in his first three years, that’s what he used in buying Camella Homes. We lived with my mom so we’d not have too many expenses),” she shared.

Even today, despite having built an empire, the Villars practice pragmatism and frugality — from their household to their staff and constituents. Senator Cynthia, herself, is into a healthy diet of vegan Keto bread, chicken, kesong puti and pinakbet made of vegetables freshly produced by Villar Farm School. Senator Manny, in turn, still enjoys eating at hole-in-the-wall diners since he grew up dining at eateries while helping his mother, a fish vendor in Tondo, Manila, sell fish and shrimp.

The family, despite having built many homes and communities, has still lived in the same village for 48 years now. According to Senator Cynthia, they built a kitchen for their staff so they’d cook food for parties in-house rather than order from restaurants.

After learning that in Las Piñas, where the Villar family lives and governs as House representatives at different times, leftover food comprises 50 percent of everyday waste, in 2002, Senator Cynthia spearheaded buying the city’s first composters, 76 in total, to supply every barangay.

Every morning, official collectors gather leftover or organic waste from every house to be put into the composters.

Every composter can produce a ton of organic fertilizer a month. Since the entire Las Piñas can get free seeds and fertilizers from Villar Farm School, everything they need to set up their own backyard garden is within reach.

In 2002, Senator Cynthia became the principal author and sponsor of Republic Act 11898, or the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) Act, a bill requiring businesses that use plastic to recycle an equivalent volume of plastic they produce, through packaging and raw materials, every year.

“It’s the company’s responsibility. Ikaw nag-produce, ikaw ang mag-recycle (Since you’re the one who produced your own plastic, it’s your duty to recycle it),” Senator Cynthia stressed the essence of the EPR Act, which the Villar Group of Companies follows by having its own plastic recycling plant, which upcycles plastic into chairs for classrooms.

Last year, Senator Cynthia welcomed the passage on third and final reading of a bill seeking better protection of the Las Piñas Parañaque Wetland Park (LPPWP), an internationally recognized Wetland of International Importance and the only remaining viable wetland ecosystem in Metro Manila.

Shielding ecological integrity

The approved Senate Bill 1536 or the LPPWP Protection Act, last 26 January 2025, seeks a three-kilometer seaward expansion from its current shoreline boundary to ensure that the ecological integrity of both the park’s land and water is well-preserved, managed and secured from the tensions of urban development, Villar explained. Through her initiative, a bird sanctuary, museum and satellite offices of government agencies taking care of the area were built for the park’s sustainability.

Apart from environmental sustainability, the Villars have committed to cultural preservation — both in their private lives and in their community outreach programs.

In 2008, the family bought the three-story Laurel Mansion in Shaw Boulevard, Mandaluyong City, built in 1957 by their good friend, former Philippine Vice President Salvador “Doy” Laurel as a gift to his parents. According to Senator Cynthia, they bought the property following the wishes of Laurel before the former vice president succumbed to cancer in 2004.

The property was later converted into a Nacionalista Party headquarters, and it is now sustainably preserved as a heritage site by having commercial establishments like Conti’s Restaurant pay for the preservation through rentals within the same compound as the house.

Meanwhile, as long-time benefactors of the Las Piñas Bamboo Organ Festival, the Villar family had the organ repaired abroad and trained its custodians to repair it, so all bamboo organs in the country are now being repaired in Las Piñas.

Moreover, the family oversees the ongoing preservation and rehabilitation of the National Historic Site, the Prinza de Molino Dam, built by the Catholic saint Father Ezekiel Moreno in the 19th century. The family had a church built nearby to serve as a pilgrimage site dedicated to the Augustinian Recollect priest who served as the parish priest of the Las Piñas Bamboo Organ Church for three years.

Work instead of ayuda

Besides environmental and cultural preservation, the Villar family continues their livelihood projects whether they are in or out of politics. Senator Cynthia had seniors officially verified and gives their names to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) for ayuda (allowances) — but they are only entitled to such if they participate in community events like Zumba for Women’s Month.

“Sa Las Piñas, dapat walang mahirap kasi may opportunities. Ang mayroon, tamad. Ang gusto nila ayuda. Eh ako hindi ako sanay sa ayuda. Sanay akong nagtratrabaho. Saka mas permanent ang trabaho (In Las Piñas, there should be no poverty because there are opportunities. What’s there are lazy people. All they want are freebies. I’m not used to freebies because I grew up working. Also, work is more permanent),” she explained.

Before becoming the country’s richest man, Senator Manny held several odd jobs in his youth to support his education and poor family in Tondo.

“Nagkargador pa ‘yan (He even worked as heavy load carrier),” Senator Cynthia said of her husband.

As such, the couple makes sure everything they built, their children know how to rebuild from scratch.

“Mga simple lang sila. Tuwang-tuwa nga ako sa kanila eh, kasi nagmana lang din sa amin. Palagay ko kasi ang mga anak, ginagaya lang din ang mga magulang. ‘Pag loko ang magulang, loko din ang mga anak. ‘Pag matino ang magulang, du’n mahihiya ang mga bata na gumawa ng kalokohan (They’re also simple like us. I’m very fond of them, they’re like us. I think it’s because the children, they just imitate their parents. If the parents are hooligans, the children are, too. But if the parents are good, the kids would be ashamed to do something bad),” Senator Cynthia said of her children.

From gravel and sand, to Camella Homes, the Villar estate grew bigger because every time they earn, the Villar couple makes sure to reinvest their profits back into their business — a virtue that the couple learned from Senator Cynthia’s mom, and which the former senators are also passing on to their children, Paolo, Mark and Camille.

“Kaya naman kami mayaman because of our land holdings. Pero ‘yung land holdings naman namin, naipon namin kasi noong araw, mura lang ang lupa. Eh lahat ng earnings ng kumpanya namin, ibinibili ni Manny ng lupa. Eh kami naman ni Manny, simple lang eh. Hindi kami maluho. Ang gastos lang namin pulitika, eh (We are rich because of our land holdings. But our land holdings accumulated because then, land was very inexpensive. Then all of our company’s earnings, Manny would use to buy more land. Because Manny and I are just simple. We’re not excessive. Our only expenses are politics),” Senator Cynthia narrated.

“Nasanay kami, kasi ang nanay ko, parating sinasabi sa akin, ‘Magnegosyo kayo, pero ‘pag nag-negosyo kayo, iipunin n’yo kita ninyo kasi hindi kayo parating kikita. Kung hindi ninyo inipon, kapag nalugi negosyo, kawawa kayo’ (We’ve become used to it because as my mom always used to say, ‘Engage in business, but if you do, save your earnings because you’d not always have earnings. If you’d not save and you become bankrupt, you’re doomed).”

Her parents, for example, used to earn P1,000 per month then, and from this, apportioned P200 to P300 to buy land.

“Kaya nu’ng kami ay pamamanahan, wala namang pera, puro lupa. Eh ako ayoko na rin ng lupa, ang hirap alagaan! Kahit na may guwardiya. Minsan ‘yung guwardiya pa ang magpupuno ng illegal settlers (That’s why when my parents gave us our inheritance, there was no money, only land. I don’t want land anymore, it’s hard to maintain! Even if there’s security. Sometimes, it’s even the security who would fill the land with illegal settlers).”

Instead of land, for Senator Cynthia, education is the best inheritance they could pass on to their children. They didn’t want them to grow up like other rich kids who didn’t want to work and just rely on their parents’ money. That is why the Villar couple worked hard to also give their kids the best education.

“Kasi kapag ipinamana mo pera at hindi education, kapag naloko, ubos din lahat ‘yun (Because if you give them money as inheritance and not education, if they get swindled, they’d also lose all their money),” the senator explained.

Likewise, instead of money, the couple are more concerned about passing on their faith in God and advocacies to their children.

“Puro kami lupa, wala kaming cash… Hindi kami ma-cash. Malupa kami. At saka ang lupa namin, hindi namin inagaw, binili namin. Ba’t kami mang-aagaw? Ang business lang namin gravel and sand, pero nakarating kami dito, ‘di ba tinulungan din kami ng Diyos? (We have land, we don’t have cash… We’re not into cash. We’re more into land. Also, our land, we didn’t land-grab them, we bought them. Why would we land-grab? Our business was only gravel and sand, but we reached this point, isn’t because God also helped us?),” Senator Cynthia pointed out.

The secret to their success, Senator Cynthia revealed, is regularly setting aside 10 percent of their income as tithes for the church. As the Bible says in the book of Malachi (3:10), blessings are promised for bringing the “whole tithe,” while Leviticus 27:30 provides grounding for tithing: “A tenth... is the Lord’s” — focusing on honoring God through intentional and cheerful giving.

During the Niño de Tondo Festival, the family stays at their Tondo home, the site of Senator Manny’s former rented house, which was demolished in Tondo. He was contacted to see if he wanted to buy the land, and ever since acquiring it, he has hosted barangay chairpersons and public school principals in Manila as a way of giving back and looking back on his humble roots as a poor boy in Tondo.

“Ang lagay, tinulungan ka na ng Diyos para maging successful, nanakawan mo pa ‘yung mga mahihirap? Baka naman malasin ka na sa buhay n’yan (If God already helped you to become successful, should you go stealing even from the poor? You might meet misfortune if you do that),” Senator Cynthia enthused.

Indeed, for the Villar family, everything starts and ends with the Lord — after all, we’ll not be here if not for God’s sipag and tiyaga.