There are two things that may come as a surprise about Cynthia Villar, the woman most likely to become first lady in the next presidency (her husband’s biggest rival is unmarried).

One is that it wasn’t her money that built her husband Manny Villar’s real estate empire as is widely believed about the country’s richest senator. Congresswoman Cynthia Aguilar-Villar actually comes from humble beginnings as well. Her grandmother Manuela Aguilar Riguera sold betel nut in the public market of Las Piñas but managed to send her son Filemon Aguilar, Cynthia’s father, to med school. Later, he quit his practice, went into business, and then became a politician.

Second is that for someone who’s the other half in a partnership that has built close to 200,000 houses for all income classes of Filipinos, Cynthia still prefers to stay in the same property that they purchased 34 years ago — a two-bedroom house in Las Piñas on a 280-square-meter lot. Over the years, of course, the house has been remodeled, renovated and reconfigured many times, one room added here and there — until Cynthia last year got tired of its “train-like appearance kasi dugtong-dugtong,” and did a major renovation to standardize the spaces and make them cohesive. Through three decades, the property has expanded to 5,000 square meters and also now houses a structure they use as an office.

For the past 18 years that she has been a congresswoman, Cynthia’s projects have focused on the environment and livelihood for women because if there is one thing she believes women should have, it’s financial independence. And what’s more, she has combined these two pressing issues into projects that answer both, like keeping the Las Piñas River clear of coconut husks and water lilies by turning these into nets to cover the slopes of Las Piñas’ hills, blankets, slippers and hampers. The livelihood projects are self-sustaining, started from Cynthia’s initial seeding. That’s how a businessman would do it and that’s how she did it.

Though she admits that she’s had a difficult life and would not want to go through her childhood again, she didn’t have to look far for role models when she was growing up because the women in her family fulfilled that role. “All our mothers and grandmothers are role models,” Cynthia says.

Ever since she was young, her working days have been 16 to 18 hours long, and she gets by with only six hours of sleep, and relaxation is a massage and watching TV.

Every day, she says, she prays for the happiness of her children Paolo, Mark and Camille, and says, almost wistfully, “I hope that they find happiness in their married lives like I did.”

Then there was another role model in her life: Manny Villar, son of a market vendor, who was her classmate at the UP College of Business Administration, later her friend and then her husband. He whom she describes as “a visionary,” a strategist, a man who managed to raise capital each time a financial crisis threatened to dissolve their businesses, and expanding their companies by getting them publicly listed.

And to think that for two years of attending the same college in UP, she did not even notice him. In their third year, they became friends and when both were 25 years old they got married.

She knew he was the one when her father, former Las Piñas Mayor Filemon Aguilar, told her: “He will grow old with you and he will take care of you as you grow old.”

Right from the start Manny struck her as a dependable man. “I’m not a weak person, but I always see that he’s even stronger than me. He’s willing to swallow all his pride just to survive. It’s a very good trait — to be humble and not be proud. He has demonstrated leadership all his life because he was elected House speaker and senate president. It’s easy to be elected by ordinary people, much harder to be elected by your peers. At the same time, he has the character. Remember, he was born very poor.”

Manny really wanted to be an entrepreneur, according to Cynthia. His first business was delivering seafood in Makati but when his biggest customer couldn’t pay him he became a salary man again, which he didn’t like. Then he discovered that the canteen that owed him money was operating the canteen at his office. So he negotiated a debt restructuring of sorts: “food chits” in exchange for his receivables.

“The canteen owner probably thought that it would take Manny forever to consume the food chits. But he was very creative. He sold the food chits at 20 percent discount and when he had enough money, he resigned.”

His next business was delivering gravel and sand. They had two trucks and then it hit him: Why not build houses himself? The Villar couple took out a seven-year loan from a rural bank that offered low interest. And that was how the Villar empire was born: on a four-hectare property. Total number of houses by the Villar companies to date: almost 200,000 units, ranging from the high-end subdivision that is Portofino to Brittany Bay to Camella Homes.

“After 20 years, the company was publicly listed,” Cynthia says. “That was how the company got to be big, from the first IPO. Manny did that three times. The biggest adversity was the 1997 financial crisis, when we saw that our whole life’s work might go down the drain because of the economy. I don’t think the presidency will match that. When you don’t become president, you don’t lose everything. During that time, we might have lost everything.”

Cynthia looks at her husband’s candidacy for the presidency with as much practicality as a businesswoman: “It’s just a race. You try to do your best, they try to do theirs. Nothing personal about it.” But she also believes that “public service is really service to the people, especially in a country where 92 percent are poor. The eight percent should not complain anymore.”

On the role she will play should her husband win, she says, “I don’t relish the thought of being first lady or Manny being president. We don’t even know what will happen to us there. I said, ikukulong yata nila kami doon. I think I will enjoy more being an ordinary person. But as I’ve said, opportunities are being open to you, and you must take them. Otherwise at the end of your life, you will always ask yourself if you made the right decisions. That’s a very difficult position to be in.”

In the Villar equation, it seems that Cynthia always takes the backseat, the figure behind the man, the wife, the mother — instead of the entrepreneur or the hard worker who built her wealth from scratch. But she was and is one hardworking entrepreneur — she was not the moneyed one that financed her husband’s business, as many people believe. She doesn’t like this myth about her because she thinks that it robs poor people of the dream that it is possible to become big out of nothing. She wants them to know it is possible even without a financier.

That she remains practical and grounded is perhaps because she was the other half that built the company, that managed the books and the day-to-day operations, that made quick decisions when needed, that attended the PTA meetings of the children and accompanied tem on field trips, and pushed her two boys to study in one of the best business schools in the US.

Here are excerpts from the exclusive Philippine STAR interview that followed a luncheon hosted by Ricky Reyes:

1. What are you most looking forward to if your husband becomes president?

Working on the country’s health problems. Senators and congress people have endowment in hospitals. If you want to help a person who is sick, you write to the hospital. It’s not that big. Like about 1,500 people approach us every month regarding their health needs, typically dialysis and chemo. The government should b able to provide free treatments. I think this is something I can lobby for.

2. On a more personal level, what are you looking forward to?

I think it will still be work because there’s so much to do.

3. What kind of power should a first lady have?

She should be to do social work for the people. It shouldn’t be a formal power.

4. You have been to Malacañang Palace many times over the years. Do you like the place?

I haven’t been to the personal quarters of the president, only the public spaces. I would want to live in a simpler place, more pleasant. Nothing too historical.

5. Do you think there is anything you would change in Malacañang? Erap renovated the kitchen before.

He did the living quarters. He did not live in the main Palace. I think the President is now living in the guesthouse, which is more contemporary. I think that would be nice.

6. Do you have more friends now that your husband is running?

Our friends are more of volunteers now. Eventually they become good friends. My friends are still there, but many are volunteers. We have many groups volunteering. It’s impossible to centralize them and we let them work in groups because it means the individuals like working with each other.

7. Is the family ready to lose if the election doesn’t turn out in your favor?

Yes. In fact we have made plans already. We will travel and rest. Later on, Manny can continue with his advocacy. He has many things to do other than the presidency. We have worked all our lives and I have many things to catch up on.

8. You’re like the poster couple for hardworking Filipinos. Wasn’t it hard raising a family and growing a business at the same time?

No, we have always worked as a family. My children are working with us now. When they were younger, they were always in school. I wanted to give them the best education. Paolo and Mark both went to University of Pennsylvania-Wharton School of Finance, only Camille stayed here, she finished at Ateneo. Di ko siya pinaalis, now whatever she wants to do, I will let her do it kasi kawawa naman. When they were growing up, I was a model mother — I accompanied them to field trips, attended PTA conferences, I supervised them so they could go to the best colleges. I made sure they filled out their application forms and mailed them on time.

9. How would you describe each of your children?

Paolo is the most intelligent. He always had good grades, and high marks in entrance exams, but also very shy. Mark has very good people skills, and loves supporting young Filipino artists. Camille is a natural in a crowd, she likes being with people, she likes working in communications, which she does for our company.

10. Who takes after you the most and after their father?

They all take after us. Manny loves music and art, which Mark got. Nakuha ba nila ang sipag namin? Camille is a fast thinker like me.

11. What do you and your husband disagree on?

Masyado akong ma-detalye. Every morning, all the messages are written on a sheet of paper and I write down my comments so people would know what to do during the day. Manny wants to have time to discuss, to have coffee. He believes mas importante ang strategy rather than the day-to-day.

12. He’s the big picture, you’re the daily operations?

Yes.

13. Was this already the arrangement when you were starting out?

Yes. But when you’re small, there really is no big picture (laughs). The big picture is the day-to-day. What can you strategize with two trucks doing the same thing every day?

14. How did your husband pursue you?

We were classmates in UP, then we became barkada. Mas maganda yata yon, it’s more stable rather than love at first sight.

15. Sino ang mas matalino?

In college, I didn’t want to study a lot. I had been studying very hard in grade school and high school. I just wanted to pass in college. Manny wasn’t the studious type either; he was a very practical person. I don’t think we really excelled in UP, but we were excelling in our earlier years. I guess we were good in different ways. He really is a visionary. To be able to grow a mom-and-pop operation into a publicly listed company takes vision.

16. Who handled the money in the beginning?

I did. But now it’s the company’s money. At home I was the one who did the budget.

17. You got married at 25.

Yes, when we met we were about 18, because we were in third-year college. That’s why he keeps saying 40 years na daw kami. Sabi ko, 34 years pa lang tayo. Huwag mong saabihin yan nagmumukha tayong matanda.

18. If there is one quality of his that made you fall in love, what was it?

Dependable, very dependable.

19. You saw that even when you were only 18?

Yes. It’s something that you feel about a person. Na hindi ka lolokohin.

20. You grew up in a family of politicians. When your husband first entered politics, what was your reaction?

He was forced into it because my father was going to retire as mayor of Las Piñas. Manny didn’t want to, but eventually he relented because, he said, “Nakakahiya naman baka sabihin ang yabang ko.” He tried politics and he has never left.

21. After 18 years, is there anything you will miss about being a congresswoman?

I’m on my last term in Congress, so now nobody will call me “Congresswoman Cynthia Villar” anymore. Now you become an ex-congresswoman. I think our lives will be the same. I never changed my life just because I became a congresswoman.

22. What’s your biggest frustration about politics?

The lack of idealism.

23. You never lost that in 18 years of politics?

No, never. You have to be an idealist. You will see by my votes in Congress that I tend to be a romantic idealist. My career has been full of idealism.

24. Does your husband share this?

Yes, but then I didn’t have to become Speaker of the House or senate president — for that you need to have to be a realist, you have to manage people. Me, I never had that opportunity, so I guess I kept my idealism intact.

25. What was the best advice your father gave you about politics?

In politics, he said that those who are really hospitable to people remain popular. He was commenting about the fact that I was always hosting for him when he was a mayor because I wanted him to win in the elections.

26. Do you believe in surveys?

In a certain way, yes. But you have to find also the weakness of a survey. You cannot rely on it totally. You have to take it with some consideration.

27. Does it affect you when you see your husband’s standing going down?

Yeah, of course. I’m normal. I’m human. But it’s not something that will affect me for a long time. It’s just a survey.

28. You sound very grounded and calm about a lot of things.

Of course, how can you survive if you’re not? We’ve been in politics for a long time. You have to take care of yourself also, to shield yourself. You should have low expectations so that you will not be disappointed.

29. And yet you’re an idealist still.

On issues I tend to be idealistic because I can afford to be independent. If you ask me, “Why do you work so hard all your life?” It’s so that when the time comes that I need to make independent decisions, I can make them. What will I get out of all this hard work? Di ba independence? I don’t want to be deprived of that. Even my husband feels the same.

30. As a wife, are you also independent?

I care for my family, but they should also care for me. They should let me do what I want to do.

31. When was your last family vacation?

We have one every Christmas season, from Dec. 23 to maybe Jan. 10 because Congress is out, and school is out. But we have small family vacations in between. We usually go to Los Angeles. We can just walk, go to a bookstore or coffee shop, watch a movie — nobody knows us. Except now, people recognize Manny.

32. How many personal houses do you own?

Wala yata kaming personal except the one where we live. The rest are company houses that they use for planning, etc. Yung lolo ni Manny had a small house in Bataan, which was nasisira na. Inayos nila kasi sabi nung congressman doon nakakahiya bahay ng senador ganyan ang hitsura. I think that house is in our name. It’s an old house built in the 1920s.

33. What’s your reaction to the criticism that the Villars are spending too much on the campaign, how do you hope to recover this?

As Manny says, of all the candidates, “I’m the only person who’s not in media or a relative of somebody in media.” At a disadvantage na kami, the field is not equal. So you have to make up for that. If they don’t give you free time in media, how do you make yourself known but through infomercials? Others have worked in media all their lives, that’s their investment — as we have worked for our living all our lives in business. And what’s wrong with people knowing him better? Then they can make an intelligent choice. How can they do that if they don’t even know their candidates? Do we have to recover the money? No. Even if we spend some, we earn continuously from our businesses. We have an earning company, so we can afford it.

34. What about the relief goods that had his name and face stamped on the containers?

Our packing materials are all like that. We already had them, so why shouldn’t we use them? Even companies’ packing materials are all like that. Like when I give gifts, of course, they have my name on it and even the recipient would want to know who to thank.

When we were starting in business. Manny would be angry when the packaging was shoddy. His analogy was you’re like a beautiful woman in a nice dress and then nakalabas ang half-slip mo. He would point at the packaging of the Japanese and say that it’s important how to present your gift. When it’s packed properly, the recipient feels that you went out of your way to make him feel important. That’s part of our training as good managers and business people. Even our model houses are well made. It’s part of the competition. In business and politics.

35. How does your husband relax?

He goes to the gym, we have a home gym. Before he used to play billiards, then tennis, never golf because it’s too time consuming. Ako ang may pinaka-maraming equipment in our home gym given by friends, but I never have the time to use them.

36. Who designs your formals?

Nolie Hans, who’s my cousin; sometimes Paul Cabral.

37. Do you like that part of your job, the dressing up?

I don’t mind it as long as I have the time.

38. What are people most surprised about you?

That when they meet me they realize I’m just like them. They think, Cynthia Villar, asawa ni Manny Villar, na sinasabing pinaka-mayamang senador. Sometimes they are so surprised at how simple I am that they don’t even believe it’s me.

39. Do you enjoy stumping?

When I’m not too tired, yes. Many of our campaigns are actually programs. We don’t go in and campaign and get out. Even in my district, I do not campaign, I go there to do programs.

(CRAZY QUILT By Tanya T. Lara (The Philippine Star) Updated November 15, 2009 12:00 AM)

The message of Ondoy and of other weather disturbances is simple: in times of crisis one cannot afford to be inexperienced or unprepared. Every second counts. Any hesitation on the part of Government and on the part of leadership can be fatal for so many.

Our country faces a far bigger problem than preparing for annual weather disturbances. That bigger problem is the continuing poverty of millions of countrymen, a level of poverty that remains unaddressed year after year after year.

Why?

Because for a long time we have not had leaders who genuinely understood the plight of the poor man – not because they were not intelligent enough, not because they did not care enough, but simply because they were never genuinely poor.

If a leader does not know how it feels to worry about food for tomorrow; if a leader does not understand the stress of having to live under a roof that could be carried away by the next typhoon; if a leader cannot genuinely say that he has felt the pain and even the indignity of being poor in this country – then how can he genuinely work for the interests of the majority of our people?

This reminds me of a movie of years ago, where a white man pretended to be black in order to understand the plight of the black people of America. After he had enough, he reverted to being white and begun championing the cause of black people.

But he was put in his place when one day a black man confronted him with these words: “you can not say that you genuinely understand the plight of us blacks because you still had that option to return to being a white man. We who are really black don’t have that option. The reality of being black is with us day and night.”

It is easy for anyone to say he understands the plight of our poor – but only those who lived as a poor boy can truly grasp the full burden of poverty.

I am not embarrassed to say that I was born poor and lived as a poor boy for the early part of my life.

Some people say that I cannot genuinely claim to be a poor man because I am not dark skinned. Well, not all dark skinned are poor, and not all poor are dark skinned. In my case, I had to go to the market early, before the sun was even up – and therefore rarely had to be baked in the sun.

And so as a young boy born poor it became my first dream to get out of poverty. The greatest opportunity for me came when I was accepted at UP, and education became for me the great leveler. This is why, over the years, I have always felt that one of Government’s primary responsibilities is to provide every Filipino with the opportunity to fulfill his God-given potential. And education is the key to that.

While the world was now opening up to me – and the beauty of a tree-lined campus leaving its mark on the mind of a poor boy accustomed to the slums of Tondo – the reality of my poor roots continued to pull me back to the complication that poverty brings: the loss of human dignity that further hinders the fulfillment of one’s potential.

Thinking back, I now realize that one of the most difficult aspects of life of a poor family is the absence of a decent home, an abode where family can gather together as one and bond.

How does one bond in a shanty? How does one come together and grow together when the roof of your house can be blown away by the next typhoon; when your walls too thin to keep some noises in and others out; when your living quarters are so compressed that when a neighbor sneezes the whole neighborhood catches the cold?

More importantly, how do you teach important values to the next generation when everything around you – your house, your relationships, even life itself — is so impermanent?

This is not to say that it is impossible to do so even under conditions of poverty; I am proud of how my parents were able to raise us with the proper values. But it is a struggle that many others fail at, and when they fail the impact is felt by society as well.

This is why, when I had the opportunity to launch my dream business, I chose to go into housing. And not just any type of housing, but specifically low cost housing. Housing that was affordable to those who, like me, understood what poverty entailed, but with a quality to match those offered by higher priced shelter programs.

And so long, long before I entered public service I was achieving another of my dreams: I was building houses and helping create homes. And in the process we were boosting the dignity of those who could now live comfortably in a place truly their own. And who now began to cultivate important values such as thrift and investment.

And because people now had decent shelter, they became decent to each other – the most important ingredient in building communities.

I am not embarrassed to say that my housing business was built around my dream of providing affordable quality housing for the poorer segment of our society, with the byproduct of uplifting the dignity of homeowners and creating communities.

Before long I was being touted as the first local Filipino billionaire and the king of the mass housing market. Yet I didn’t – I couldn’t – stop dreaming.

As a student at UP, as a young employee in Makati, and then as an entrepreneur, another stark reality hit me: that the best Government is a Government that facilitates – that allows resources to match needs, that provides opportunities, that protects the weak and encourages the diligent and rewards the hard working. When Government is not these but is a stumbling bloc to progress, then it fails in its most basic of responsibilities and loses its reason for being.

This is why I entered government service.

But my experience in public service also taught me one important lesson: as a facilitator, Government need not dictate. In fact, more often than not, Government is more effective when it resorts to promoting dialogue between stakeholders and finding the acceptable compromise that leaves all parties better off in the end.

Indeed, more is achieved when Government gets parties to sit down at the negotiation table and trade interests, than when they stand on opposite sides of a dividing line and trade accusations.

Which is why I now find myself on the edge of striving to achieve my ultimate dream: that of putting together all the elements of my life this far and offering it to our people as the sum total of what I as a leader am and will always be.

Because I was born poor, I dreamt of breaking free from the bonds of poverty with the help of quality education and the opportunity to maximize my potential.

I dream that every Filipino similarly situated as that poor boy from Tondo will also have that same chance, thanks to quality public education and opportunity for all.

When that day comes, the need for our countrymen to seek greener pastures abroad will become a thing of the past.

Because I understood how having no permanent roof over your head to call your own robbed me and my family of the basic dignity, I dreamt not only of building a roof over my head but of helping provide others the chance to own a house they could call their own.

I dream that every Filipino will have access to decent housing that will allow him to nurture his family, respect his neighbors and in the process help build communities.

When that day comes, the complaint that we Filipinos have no sense of community and of country will be a distant echo.

And because I have seen how Government at its best can match resources with needs as it provides the minimum conditions for individuals to achieve their potential, I have continued to dream of a National Government that facilitates rather than hinders, that creates opportunities rather than stumbling blocs, that encourages rather than discourages, that acts rather than speaks, and that is focused less on what is and more on what could be.

When that day comes, Government will be an entity that is respected, not cursed, and the description “public servant” will be an honorific to be sought by many.

But all that I have achieved would be nothing if at the end of my public life I would not have been able to translate my own success into the success of our people.

This is why I stand before you here today, the genuine poor boy from Tondo, armed with 20 years experience as a public servant and 30 years experience in the private sector, ready, willing and able to serve as President of the Philippines from Day One and lead our country in facing whatever storms lay ahead.