Manuel "Manny" Bamba Villar, Jr. (born December 13, 1949) is a Filipino

Filipino people

The Filipino people or Filipinos are an Austronesian ethnic group native to the islands of the Philippines. There are about 92 million Filipinos in the Philippines, and about 11 million living outside the Philippines ....

 businessman and politician. He is currently a Philippine Senator

Senate of the Philippines

The Senate of the Philippines is the upper chamber of the bicameral legislature of the Philippines, the Congress of the Philippines...

, president of the Nacionalista Party

Nacionalista Party

The Nacionalista Party is the oldest political party in the Philippines today and was responsible for leading the country throughout the majority of the 20th century since its founding in 1907...

Villar was born to a poor family in Tondo

Tondo, Manila

Tondo is a district of Manila, Philippines. The locale has existed prior to the arrival of the Spanish, referred to as "Tundun" in the Laguna Copperplate Inscription. One of the most densely populated areas of land in the world, Tondo is located in the northwest portion of the city and is primarily...

, an impoverished and densely populated district of Manila

Manila

Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...

. After graduating from the University of the Philippines

University of the Philippines

The ' is the national university of the Philippines. Founded in 1908 through Act No...

, he worked as an accountant and financial analyst, then launched a highly successful business in real estate. The number of homes built by Villar's companies has totaled to over 200,000 units, and his business career made him one of the country's wealthiest persons.

Villar entered politics in 1992 when he was elected Congressman

House of Representatives of the Philippines

The House of Representatives of the Philippines is the lower chamber of the...

 representing the district of Las Piñas-Muntinlupa, and later became Speaker of the House of Representatives

Speaker of the Philippine House of Representatives

The Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Philippines is the presiding officer of the lower house of Congress, the House of Representatives....

.