Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla said he would no longer write to the Senate leadership to seek the enforcement of a 2016 dismissal order against Sen. Joel Villanueva as it turned out that there was a ‘secret decision’ issued by former ombudsman Samuel Martires reversing the order.
‘To my surprise, when I got to the office [today], I was confronted with a decision signed by former ombudsman Martires dated July 2019,’ Remulla told reporters in a press briefing yesterday.
‘It (Martires’ decision) suddenly came out when I said that I will do something about the dismissal order. So, it’s a surprise, a secret decision,’ he added.
In an interview with ANC’s ‘Headstart’ yesterday morning, Remulla said he will personally hand a letter to Senate President Vicente Sotto III asking for the implementation of the dismissal order against Villanueva as the latter was previously found guilty by the ombudsman of administrative offenses of grave misconduct, serious dishonesty and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service.
Later in the day, however, Villanueva released excerpts of a July 2019 decision signed by Martires granting the senator’s motion for reconsideration and ordered the dismissal of the administrative and criminal complaints against him.
Martires later confirmed to reporters that he dismissed the complaints against Villanueva.
‘Well, nobody was raising that issue before. Joel Villanueva kept quiet throughout the years, Ombudsman Martires never spoke about it. So, it’s like a secret decision. Nobody knows about it,’ Remulla said.
Remulla, however, maintained that he was not pinning down Villanueva but was just taking action on a dismissal order, which he honestly believed remained valid yet unenforced.
‘That decision was never published, never released. Nobody knew about it. Even in the Senate they did now about it. Don’t you call that a secret decision?’ he said.
‘It is not harassment. It is what everybody thinks is still valid, but turned out to be not valid anymore due to a secret decision,’ he added.
Fake news
Villanueva decried harassment after Remulla said he would send a letter to the Senate leadership to enforce a 2016 dismissal order.
‘We already anticipated possible HARASSMENT, plus FAKE NEWS,’ Villanueva said in a Viber group with reporters.
He showed to the media a clearance from the ombudsman that he does not have any criminal or administrative cases before the agency as of Sept. 9 2025. He also showed the media a certification from the Sandiganbayan saying he is ‘not an accused or defendant in any case filed in this Court.’
Villanueva shared with reporters a 2019 ‘indorsement’ letter by Assistant Ombudsman Jose Balmeo Jr. to Sotto, at the time also Senate President informing of the ombudsman’s grant of the senator’s motion for reconsideration (MR).
Villanueva said he will soon file cases against the ‘fake news spreaders’ against him.
Villanueva was dismissed and perpetually disqualified from public office by then ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales in 2016 over his alleged misuse of pork barrel funds.
But the Senate took the cudgels for their colleague by voting in plenary to adopt its legal opinion that the ombudsman has no disciplinary authority over members of Congress.
In 2019, then ombudsman Martires granted Villanueva’s MR thus reversing the senator’s dismissal from service.
Senate, Martires must explain – law expert
The Senate and former ombudsman Martires should explain Villanueva’s dismissal order has been ignored and, eventually, junked in secret, according to Domingo Cayosa, a former president of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines.
Cayosa said the Villanueva’s dismissal should still be examined despite Ombudsman Remulla backing out from his earlier attempt to enforce it.
Cayosa lamented that the public was not able to discover that Villanueva’s dismissal order was reversed by Martires in 2019, as claimed by his successor.
‘You have to explain why you are reversing because the earlier decision, dismissing him and holding him accountable was not a personal decision. It’s based on evidence and law,’ Cayosa told ‘Storycon’ on One