Ombudsman Says Former Chief Martires Secretly Cleared Villanueva in PDAF Case

Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla will no longer proceed with his plan to write to the Senate to enforce the 2016 dismissal order against Senator Joel Villanueva after learning about what he described as a “secret decision” to junk the case.

Remulla earlier said he would ask Senate President Vicente Sotto III to implement the order, but Villanueva claimed the case against him had already been dismissed in 2019.

“I was surprised by the decision. It only came out after I said the Ombudsman would act on it. So, it is a surprise—secret decision,” Remulla said.

“Nobody was raising that issue before. Joel Villanueva kept quiet over the years, and Ombudsman Martires never spoke about it. Did you know that? Nobody knew about it,” he added.

Remulla also refuted Villanueva’s claim that his actions amounted to harassment, insisting that he was merely doing his duty, especially since the 2019 Ombudsman decision was never made public.

“It is not harassment. It is what everybody thought was still valid, but it turned out to be no longer valid because of a secret decision,” he explained.

The case stemmed from the alleged misuse of Villanueva’s Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) or “pork barrel” when he served as representative of the CIBAC party-list.

On Thursday, Villanueva presented a receipt showing a copy of the Ombudsman’s decision dismissing his case. He also shared screenshots of clearances from the Ombudsman and the Sandiganbayan stating that he has no pending criminal or administrative cases.

Former Ombudsman Samuel Martires later confirmed that he had dismissed the case against Villanueva back in 2019.