STA. BARBARA, ILOIlo?Top Liberal Party leaders Friday presented what they said was a case of illegal land conversion in this province that serves as a pattern of how Sen. Manuel Villar, their rival in the presidential race, enriched himself.

Presenting documents and quoting public records, LP standard-bearer Sen. Benigno Aquino III and running mate Sen. Manuel Roxas II said one of Villar?s companies, Savannah Communities, was able to convert 12.7 hectares of irrigated rice lands in Oton, Iloilo, into residential lots despite the lands being covered by certificates of land title award (CLOAs).

CLOAs are issued to beneficiaries of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP). Existing laws ban the use of irrigated lands for purposes other than agriculture.

The conversion, the LP leaders said in a press conference here, led to an increase in the lots? value from P24 million to at least P420 million.

?This is a crime?

?It is illegal to convert first class irrigated agricultural land into subdivisions,? said Franklin Drilon, former justice secretary and senatorial candidate of LP, in the same press conference.

?That?s exactly what Sen. Manny Villar did. This is a crime,? said Drilon, a native of Iloilo.

Villar?s camp quickly dismissed the allegations as ?another act of desperation and traditional politicking.?

Nalen Galang, Villar?s chief legal officer, said in a text message to the Inquirer that companies owned by Villar, Nacionalista Party standard-bearer, ?comply with all regulations and obtain all permits requisite for conversion of use and development of its properties.?

?Prior to development, the necessary conversion or exemption order is obtained,? Galang?s text continued. ?All projects are covered by duly issued development permits and licenses to sell.?

Non-transferable

Rene Villa, former agrarian reform secretary and now LP candidate for representative of Iloilo?s third district, said he refused to approve the application for land conversion of Savannah when he was still head of the Department of Agrarian Reform.

Villa said CLOAs are non-transferable and only a collusion between developer and DAR could make the conversion of CLOA-covered lands possible.

Drilon and Manuel Mejorada, Iloilo provincial administrator and LP provincial campaign manager, presented property records and tax declarations dated 1992 of at least 88 lots, ranging from 200 square meters to three hectares, categorized as irrigated rice lands.

The lots?in Barangays Abilay Norte and Polo Maestra Vita in Oton town 7 km south of Iloilo City?were covered by CLOAs, which meant they had been awarded to farmers under CARP, Mejorada said.

?Documents do not lie?

Drilon said Villar?s firm obtained permit from the DAR to convert the lands in 2007, which was seven years after it started constructing Savannah in 2000.

?The documents here do not lie,? said Drilon, a member of the ACCRA law firm.

The LP leaders also said Villar used P4 million of his pork barrel funds to have a road built leading to Savannah Iloilo Communities, a subdivision that Villar?s company owns.

The 586.60-meter road, in Barangay Jibao-an in Pavia, Iloilo, is covered by Special Allotment Release Order (Saro) No. ROVI-2004-249 dated June 16, 2004, which meant it was built using government funds.

?This is the only public works project of Villar in the province,? said Drilon, former Senate president.

Pattern

Drilon said what the LP uncovered in Iloilo showed a ?pattern.?

Villar, he said, ?sets aside the interest of (CARP) beneficiaries in order to pursue his business interest.?

Drilon said the Iloilo case was ?just the tip of the iceberg.?

?We are aware of other (Villar-owned) subdivisions all over the country where a similar practice was followed,? he said.

Drilon said Villar bought more lands to amass at least 250 ha straddling the towns of Oton, Pavia and San Miguel to expand his subdivision.

Farmers, Drilon said, were forced to sell because their irrigation supply had been cut off as the source of water was in the 12.7 ha that had been converted already.

Irrigation canals, Drilon said, were destroyed ?so they can be classified as non-serviceable.?

Farmers? representatives

According to Drilon, the conversion of the 12.7 ha was completed through ?false representation,? with Lily Donasco and Ernesto Concio Jr. representing 88 CARP beneficiaries.

Donasco is operations manager of Villar?s Camella Homes, while Concio is production head of Savannah Iloilo Communities, also owned by Villar.

Reached by Inquirer, Donasco refused to comment, saying her role in Villar?s company focused on operations although she admitted signing documents related to acquisition of lands by the Villar company.