Battle royale: SEC vs Manny VillarThe Securities and Exchange Commission under its chair, blue chip lawyer Francis Lim, is going hammer and tongs after former speaker and former Senate president Manuel Bamba “Manny” Villar Jr., once considered the Philippines’ first brown Filipino billionaire. The SEC’s case involves Manny’s Villar Land Holdings Corp. (formerly Golden MV Holdings, Inc.), a publicly listed company on the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE). The disclosure was approved by the directors of Villar Land for release to the public before its external auditor, Arnulfo and Punongbayan, officially approved the financial statements, the SEC said. Following the premature disclosure of Villar Land’s financial statements, there was a heightened trading activity of HVN shares. The PSE suspended the trading due to the delayed filing of Villar Land’s audited financial statements.”In November 2025, Villar Land’s audited financial statements were finally disclosed.

Source: Philippine Star February 04, 2026 16:39 UTC