Senator Cynthia Villar has disclosed she plans to retire from national politics and return to the local level, eyeing once more a seat at the Lower House as Las Piñas City representative or as Las Piñas City mayor.
Villar will end her third and final term as senator in June next year, having served two consecutive six-year terms as senator or a total of 12 years.
Should she decide to run for mayor, Villar is poised to challenge her niece—incumbent Vice Mayor April Aguilar—for the congressional post in the upcoming 2025 national and local elections.
Aguilar is the daughter of Villar’s late elder brother, former Las Piñas Mayor Vergel Aguilar. She will also end her nine-year reign as city vice mayor next year.
In an interview over DWIZ on Sunday, Villar confirmed her plans to retire from national politics. “I will run for mayor or Congress,” she was quoted saying.
Should she decide to run for Congress, her daughter, incumbent Deputy Majority Leader and Las Piñas Rep. Camille Villar, will have to switch positions with her mother and run for the Senate instead.
The Villar’s has another incumbent family member in the Upper Chamber, Senator Mark Villar whose term is yet to expire in 2028.
At present, the Senate has two pairs of siblings: Senators Alan Peter and Pia Cayetano, as well as Senators Joseph Victor Ejercito and Jinggoy Estrada, who are half-brothers.
Cynthia and Mark became the second mother-son tandem to simultaneously serve in the Senate. Estrada and his mother Loi Ejercito were the first to pull off such political move when they worked together in the 13th Congress (2004-2007).
Before stepping down from national politics, Villar gave assurance she would wind up all her tasks as chairperson of both the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Food and the Committee on Environment and Natural Resources.
“The renewal of the Rice Tariffication Law (RTL) and the Livestock, Poultry and Dairy Bill, the 11 legislations on protected areas which are already on the Senate floor, I will finish them before my term ends,” Villar said.
