The Gadgets of Manny Villar

Posted on September 2nd, 2009. Written by Rico.

Over some coffee yesterday, the Senator behind Akala Mo talked about his platform, his plans for the country, and—thanks to this pesky editor—the gadgets in his life!

First, let’s get the mostly non-tech-related stuff out of the way. Mr. Villar made sure to stress his proposal to make everyone more competitive, promising the meritocracy that exists in the democratic ideal—a plan he hopes to extend to our technological capabilities. He hopes his record as a successful businessman proves his capability to lead the country to the electorate.

He also fielded questions about his desire to run (to paraphrase him: “I want to be the person to bring the Philippines back up”) and his personal story (basically a rags-to-riches one, with special mention of his attraction to beautiful things and good design). Villar was even game enough to pull his own hair to prove that he wasn’t wearing a wig—the result of an offbeat question by Marck.

Anyways, the Senator isn’t really your typical geek, seeing gadgets more as utilitarian tools to keep him “competitive”. Yet his collection would make any geek drool, with at least twelve different iPods, a new Macbook Air, and an iPhone 3GS to his name. Still, Mr. Villar prefers to write and scribble ideas on paper.

From what I understood, the senator prefers to maintain two different iPod shuffles—with different playlists—rather than just reconnect an iPod to the computer and change the music on it. Definitely a rich man’s habit (there’s no doubting the Senator’s wealth in any case), but Manny Villar stressed that it was all for efficiency’s sake. Some people may find such a casual mention of purchasing power mayabang, but I left the conversation feeling that he’s simply enjoying the fruits of his multi-decade career.

Whether you think the senator would make a good president or not, he shares the same classic technological sense as Gloria Diaz—despite the vastly different repertoires. Merely tools for use, a means to accomplish something.