OF TREES AND FOREST Former Senate President Manny Villar When we organize elections, our vision has always been to make sure that they are clean, honest and meaningful. They are the benchmark of a democratic system. But given our situation today, we need to add one more: safe elections. Can we...
OF TREES AND FOREST Former Senate President Manny Villar The coronavirus seems to be creeping outside the National Capital Region (NCR). The Department of Health has expressed alarm over the increase in COVID-19 infections in provinces specifically in Mindanao. It noted that 25% of fresh cases the...
OF TREES AND FOREST Former Senate President Manny Villar The good news this week was that the country’s vaccination program seemed to have shifted to a higher gear with 229,769 doses administered last May 20 — the highest since we began the program in March. National Task Force against COVID-19...
OF TREES AND FOREST Former Senate President Manny Villar I was reviewing my new website ( www.mannyvillar.com.ph ) that we recently launched. It is a beautiful website that includes information about myself and what we have built over the years in terms of our business. It is meant to inform but...
Despite a 12-month tariff cut imposed on pork, a group of local meat importers began lobbying for a much longer period wherein the pork import tariff rate is kept at 15 percent from the original 40 percent until 2025. A customer pays for pork at a roadside market stall in Mandaluyong City, Manila,...
OF TREES AND FOREST Former Senate President Manny Villar The COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdowns we have experienced for more than a year now has crippled our economy but it has also resulted to some positive changes that we can take advantage of. These are transformations that we can fully utilize...
OF TREES AND FOREST Former Senate President Manny Villar This was the word used by the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) to describe the growing gap between the number of vaccines available to rich countries and the measly numbers given to developing countries. The latter rely mainly on...
OF TREES AND FOREST Former Senate President Manny Villar As Filipinos continue to struggle against the COVID-19 pandemic, a different kind of outbreak has caused a shortfall in pork production and subsequently caused a sharp increase in food prices. While the African Swine Fever (ASF), which has...
OF TREES AND FOREST Former Senate President Manny Villar I applaud the decision of President Rodrigo Duterte to allow the private sector to import COVID-19 vaccines “at will”. “No matter the price or how many they want to import, that is fine with me,” the President was quoted as saying...
OF TREES AND FOREST Former Senate President Manny Villar The numbers are disheartening. Last April 2 the country logged a total of 15,310 new COVID-19 cases (3,790 of which were backlogs). The following day the number of new cases was 12,576 which brought our active cases to a staggering 165,715....
OF TREES AND FOREST Former Senate President Manny Villar The COVID-19 pandemic has turned our world upside down. It has changed the way we behave in our world. Walking around with face masks and shields, pouring alcohol on our hands every time we touch something, and our inability to do the most...
OF TREES AND FOREST Former Senate President Manny Villar I received a very uplifting message from my Facebook page last week. It was from Rudy Alquero who recalled that I was the contractor of his family’s house at BF Resort Village in 1977-78. He recalled: “Manny Villar, I could not forget...
