How does Forbes’ second-richest in the Philippines celebrate a birthday? Just ask former senator Manny Villar.
The ex-politician and real estate tycoon recently turned 72, and instead of celebrating with a lavish party and the other trappings one would expect from a billionaire bash, his was relatively low-key: Villar reportedly watched the sunrise from their café as his daughter Camille, who serves as Deputy House Speaker at the House of Representatives, surprised him with a “cake” made out of sweet potatoes or kamote.
No, not a cake laced with sweet potato—as in actual hunks of kamote with a birthday candle stuck in.
“I welcomed my birthday catching the sunrise at the rooftop of our newest cafe, The Crossing Cafe, located in the 2,500-hectare Villar City,” Villar wrote on Facebook. “My daughter Camille joined me and brought one of my faves, camote. Thank you, darling, for the camote cake.”
Villar City is the former senator’s planned “legacy project,” a 2,500-hectare development in Southern Luzon that is poised to become the next central business district.
Forbes listed Villar as the richest person in the Philippines in 2019, surpassing long-time frontrunner Henry Sy, Sr. This year, his net worth reportedly rose to $7.4 billion even after sliding to the second spot behind the Sy siblings.
Villar took his supermarket chain, AllDay, public this year, raising a successful initial public offering of P4.5 billion. It debuted on the Philippine Stock Exchange in November.
The senator retired from politics in 2013. His wife, Cynthia, is currently elected to the Senate while his son Mark resigned from his post as DPWH secretary in October this year.
READ: Senator Villar ‘humbly apologizes’ after backlash on anti-middle class remarks
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