Manny Villar

“Manny Villar”

Manuel Bamba Villar, Jr. was born on December 13, 1949 in Tondo, an impoverished and densely populated district of Manila. He was the second-born of the nine children of his parents in a poor family. His father, Manuel "Maning" Montalban Villar, Sr., was a government employee from Cabatuan, Iloilo who worked as an inspector for the Bureau of Fisheries. His mother, Curita "Curing" Bamba, was a seafood vendor from a simple family in Orani, Bataan. The family lived in a small rented apartment in a run down slum area. Villar's father was eventually granted a year-long scholarship for higher education in the United States, which lead to a job promotion to a director position in the Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources upon his return. Due to cramped conditions in Tondo, Villar's father obtained a P16,000 loan from the Government Service Insurance System, payable in 20 to 25 years, to build a home in San Rafael Village, Navotas.

In his third year of college at the University of the Philippines, Villar became friends with Cynthia Aguilar, his classmate in the UP College of Business Administration. Her father was then mayor of Las Piñas City. They married at the age of 25. They have three children, Manuel Paolo (born c. 1977), Mark (born c. 1978), and Camille Linda (born c. 1985). Villar's two sons studied at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania for their college education, while Camille attended Ateneo de Manila University. All three children graduated with degrees in finance or business management.

Villar lives in a two-bedroom house with his family in Las Piñas City. In early 2010, a political smear was disseminated on the Internet, claiming falsely that Villar owned an extravagant mansion in the United States, which was debunked by Snopes.com.

Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manny_Villar