Senator Joel Villanueva refuted on Friday Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla’s remark that the dismissal of the administrative case against him was a ‘secret decision.’
Villanueva, in a text message, showed the Inquirer a screenshot of his tweet in 2021 supposedly showing a netizen that his motion for reconsideration had been granted and his case was dismissed.
‘Are you kidding me? We always talk about it,’ he told the Inquirer when he was asked why he did not publicize the reversal of the case filed against him.
Villanueva likewise shared a recording of a privilege speech he delivered during the chamber’s plenary session in 2024.
In the privilege speech, Villanueva categorically stated that he has no pending case before the Ombudsman.
‘The first accusation is that I have a case before the Ombudsman. True or false? The answer is false,’ he said then.
In a televised interview early Thursday, Remulla said he will write to Senate President Vicente Sotto III to enforce Villanueva’s dismissal from public office.
In 2016, former Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales ordered Villanueva’s dismissal from public service for his administrative liability over the allegedly anomalous use of P10 million from his pork barrel allocation as a House member.
Villanueva, however, dismissed Remulla’s pronouncement, calling it a mere form of harassment.
The senator then proceeded to send to the media a copy of certifications from the Office of the Ombudsman and Sandiganbayan-one proving that he has no pending criminal and administrative cases and the other proving that he is not an accused or a defendant in any case filed in court.
Both documents were issued on September 10, 2025.
Later, Remulla said that the reversal of the dismissal order against Villanueva was done in secret.
‘To my surprise, when I got to the office, I was confronted with a decision signed by former Ombudsman (Samuel) Martires dated July 2019,’ Remulla told reporters in an interview on Thursday afternoon. ‘It only came out when I said that the Ombudsman would be taking action on that matter,’ he added.