Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile on Monday vowed to exercise fairness in the Senate hearing on the ethics complaint against Sen. Manuel Villar Jr.

In his opening statement as the presiding chairman of the Senate Committee of the Whole, Enrile urged his fellow senators to "exercise civility, courtesy and sobriety expected of us as senators" in the hearing of the complaint.

"Let us act with strict adherence to the rules to ensure that we respect the rights of both the accuser and the accused to be heard, to present their charges, evidence, their rebuttals and their defenses as well as the right of each member of this committe and this house to equal opportunity in participating in these proceedings," he said.

Enrile said he will let all sides be heard to ensure that justice is served in the ethics hearing.

"The chair is far from impervious to the sensitivity of the task at hand, the sensitivity and gravity of the legal and moral responsibility we now carry, to sit in judgment of the conduct of our own colleague in this chamber, is a responsibility which none of us, I am sure would take lightly nor comfortably," Enrile said.

"It is a duty, therefore, that exacts from us, and especially Chair, the utmost sense of fairness and impartiality," he added.

Villar is accused of benefiting from the alleged anomalous construction of C-5 road extension project in Paranaque. His case was elevated to the Committee of the Whole on motion of ethics committee chair Lacson, after Villar refused to cooperate with the ethics panel.

Villar left for Spain on Saturday due to personal business matters, according to his spokesman Gilbert Remulla.

Enrile`s office confirmed to ABS-CBN News that Villar sought permission to travel to Barcelona and Bilbao, Spain from May 2 to May 10 “on a trip that has been long-promised” to his wife, Las Piñas Rep. Cynthia Villar.

The travel order signed by Enrile was dated March 25, which bolsters Villar's claim it was a long-planned trip.

A source also told ABS-CBN News that Villar was scheduled to meet with President Arroyo, who is on official trip to Egypt and the Middle East. The supposed meeting in an undisclosed location was reportedly set up by two businessmen, one a known backer of Villar and the other a known “crony” of Mrs. Arroyo. Villar's businessman-friend reportedly left for Spain ahead of the senator.

The source said the meeting could either be about the ethics probe, in which case Villar would reportedly ask the president to order administration senators; or about the 2010 elections.

Villar, head and standard bearer of the Nacionalista Party, is positioning himself as an opposition candidate although he counts personalities of the Arroyo administration as among his supporters.

Asked to comment, Remulla laughed off the rumored Arroyo-Villar meeting. “We cannot comment on speculation,” he said.