DPWH Secretary Mark Villar has COVID-19

Department of Public Works and Highways Secretary Mark Villar has tested positive for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Villar himself broke the news in a Facebook post on Wednesday. “I regret to announce that today, July 15, I received my test result, and it is positive for COVID-19,” he said in his post.

Mark Aguilar Villar (born August 14, 1978) is a Filipino politician and businessman currently serving as the Secretary of Public Works and Highways of the Philippines.

He is the son of former Senate President and 2010 presidential candidate Manny Villar and incumbent Senator Cynthia Villar. He served as the Representative of Las Piñas in the Philippine House of Representatives and has also previously held executive positions in his family’s real estate businesses.

A member of the Nacionalista Party, Villar, was appointed by President Rodrigo Duterte to join his Cabinet on May 17, 2016, and assumed office upon his resignation from Congress on August 1, 2016, replacing Rafael Yabut.

Also read: Forbes Magazine names property tycoon Manuel Villar as richest Filipino

DPWH Secretary Mark Villar has COVID-19

Villar was first elected to public office in 2010 as congressman of the lone district of Las Piñas, succeeding his mother, Cynthia Villar, a three-term representative who became a senator. During his term, he served as Chairman of the House Committee on Trade and Industry, as well as Vice Chairman of the House Committees on Overseas Workers Affairs, Labor and Employment, and Science and Technology.

As a member of the 15th and 16th Congress, he authored several bills on education, health, and livelihood, including the Negosyo Act promoting microfinance and the Lemon Law protecting buyers of motor vehicles. He was also one of the proponents of the Co-Loading Act, which opened domestic transport and shipping to foreign vessels.

Villar ran for a third term during the 2016 elections and won. A special election will be held to replace Villar, who joined the Cabinet of President Rodrigo Duterte on August 1, 2016. Pending the special election to be held in Las Piñas to fill in Villar’s seat in the lower house, House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez has designated his wife, Emmeline Aglipay Villar, as interim representative.