Martires ‘secret decision’ stops Villanueva dismissal
A “secret decision” by former Ombudsman Samuel Martires has prompted his successor, Jesus Crispin Remulla, to scrap a plan to seek the ouster of Sen. Joel Villanueva for the senator’s alleged involvement in the pork barrel scam over a decade ago.
Remulla earlier on Thursday disclosed in an interview with ANC that he would write Senate President Vicente Sotto III to enforce a 2016 decision by Martires’ predecessor, Conchita Carpio Morales, dismissing Villanueva from public office.
The senator allegedly misused his pork barrel funds when he was a representative of an anticorruption party list group in the House. In June 2008, then Congressman Villanueva requested the release of P10 million from his Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) for what was later deemed a nonexistent project.
“To my surprise when I got to the office, I was confronted with a decision signed by former Ombudsman 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.
Unreported
Morales’ order in November 2016 was widely covered by Philippine media, which apparently was not informed by the Office of the Ombudsman of Martires’ July 2019 decision and had not reported on it.
According to Remulla, no one knew about the decision by Martires to reverse Morales’ 2016 order, including people close to the Ombudsman’s office.
“Even Tito Sotto didn’t know about it. It was disclosed just now. So don’t you call that a secret decision?” Remulla said.
In a report, ABS-CBN News said it received a text message from Martires saying that he had “granted the motion for reconsideration” of Villanueva, who sought the reversal of Morales’ dismissal order.
Martires did not respond to the Inquirer’s request for further comments on his 2019 decision.
The Senate did not implement Morales’ dismissal order as the senators argued that the Ombudsman lacked jurisdiction over members of Congress.
But Remulla said the Ombudsman would try to enforce it now amid widespread protests against corruption and the public’s clamor to jail lawmakers, other government officials and owners of private corporations involved in irregular public works projects, especially for flood control.
Remulla said he would send the letter to Sotto on Friday, in time for the Senate’s hearing on the Ombudsman’s budget.
Separate case
In a separate case, Villanueva again was implicated in alleged corrupt dealings in a House tri-commitee hearing last month, when former Bulacan assistant 1st district engineer Jaypee Mendoza said the senator allegedly requested P1.5 billion from former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Bulacan district engineer Henry Alcantara for a multipurpose building.
However, Alcantara allegedly said only P600 million could be allocated by then DPWH chief Manuel Bonoan.
Former DPWH engineer Brice Hernandez alleged that Villanueva received at least 30 percent in kickbacks from the P600 million. Villanueva has repeatedly denied the allegations.
In a Viber message to reporters on Thursday, Villanueva said Remulla’s plans to oust him from the Senate was “harassment.”
He sent copies of certifications from the Office of the Ombudsman and Sandiganbayan clearing him of any complaints—the first showing that he had no pending criminal and administrative cases and the other proving that he was not an accused or a defendant in any case in the antigraft court.
Both documents were issued on Sept. 10, 2025. When the Inquirer pressed him to explain why there was a need to request such documents, he said he had anticipated harassment.
Misuse of pork barrel
In November 2016, Morales ordered the dismissal of Villanueva from public service for allegedly misusing his pork barrel funds when he was a member of the House representing the Citizens’ Battle Against Corruption (Cibac) party list.
Villanueva won his first term as a senator in the May 2016 elections.
Morales held the freshman senator administratively liable for grave misconduct, serious dishonesty and conduct prejudicial to the interest of the service. She directed then Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III to implement the dismissal.
Villanueva was accused of two counts of violating Section 3(e) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, and one count each of malversation of public funds and malversation through falsification of public documents.
Villanueva served as Cibac representative in the House from 2001 to 2010 before he was appointed as the director general of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) by then President Benigno Aquino III. He headed Tesda until 2015.
In August 2015, Villanueva was included among those charged with malversation, bribery and graft for allegedly diverting the PDAF to bogus nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) created by the now jailed alleged mastermind Janet Lim Napoles in exchange for kickbacks.
‘Livelihood projects’
The Ombudsman filed an administrative complaint against Villanueva in connection with the alleged irregular purchase, using his PDAF allocation, of vegetable seedlings allegedly distributed in Compostela Valley.
Villanueva allegedly requested on June 12, 2008, the release of P10 million of his PDAF to National Agribusiness Corp. (Nabcor), which was tapped to implement the project together with Aaron Foundation Philippines Inc. (Afpi) as a partner NGO.
The amount was earmarked for agri-based livelihood projects meant to benefit the people of eight towns in Compostela Valley. It was supposed to be used to buy various seedlings, liquid fertilizers and threshers from MJ Rickson Trading Corp.
Ombudsman investigators found that no one on the supposed list of beneficiaries was a registered voter in the province. Local officials attested that no livelihood projects were implemented by Afpi.
It also turned out the chosen localities were not suitable for farming because the land was planted mostly to bananas and coconuts.
Fabricated documents
Documents showed that Afpi had no financial capability to implement the P10-million project considering its capital stock of only P68,000.
Investigators could not locate the supplier MJ Rickson at its business address and that it was not registered with either the Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority or the Department of Trade and Industry.
The respondents also allegedly submitted fabricated and undated documents, such as accomplishment reports, disbursement reports and liquidation documents, to support the “ghost project.”
The Commission on Audit issued a notice of disallowance on Aug. 12, 2014, because of the supposed irregularity in the transaction.
Morales also ordered the filing of criminal charges in the Sandiganbayan against the senator and nine others found liable for the release of P10 million of his PDAF to the “ghost” livelihood project.
Others ordered charged were former Agriculture Secretary and now Bohol Rep. Arthur Yap, Villanueva’s staff member Ronald Samonte, Department of Agriculture employee Delia Ladera, and Nabcor officials Alan Javellana, Romulo Relevo, Ma. Julie Villaralvo-Johnson, Rhodora Mendoza, Maria Ninez Guanizo, and Alfredo Ronquillo, president of Afpi.
Senate didn’t comply
The dismissal sought by Morales was referred to the Senate committee on rules, which was then chaired by Sotto, who cited a provision in the Ombudsman Act exempting members of Congress from the Ombudsman’s disciplinary authority.
According to the Senate legal counsel, there was no basis to implement the Ombudsman’s order because it was not yet final and executory since the office still has to act on the motion for reconsideration that Villanueva filed.
The Senate legal counsel argued that the alleged offense happened in 2008 but the complaint was filed on Aug. 7, 2015, or “way beyond the one-year period under the Ombudsman Act.”
After the pork barrel kickback scheme was exposed in a series of stories by the Inquirer in 2013, cases were filed against officials who were allegedly involved in the scam. The Supreme Court has since outlawed the PDAF. —WITH REPORTS FROM DEMPSEY REYES AND INQUIRER RESEARCH
