Statement of Ombudsman Boying Remulla on Dismissed Dismissal Order vs. Sen. Joel Villanueva
Ombudsman Boying Remulla clarified that his office is still not done about the case of Senator Joel Villanueva whose dismissal order was lifted in 2019
Aside from lifting the restrictions on the public access to the Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN) of the government officials, Ombudsman Remulla also previously said that he will ask Senate President Tito Sotto to enforce the 2016 dismissal order against Sen. Joel Villanueva. He claimed that he will write a letter and personally deliver it to the Senate Chief.
However, even before the letter is written, the Ombudsman received a copy of the document stating that his predecessor, former Ombudsman Samuel Martires who resigned in July, had reversed the order of former Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales.
Morales ordered the dismissal of now-Sen. Joel Villanueva due to his alleged misuse of the 2008 Priority Development Assistance Fund or PDAF. Then, Villanueva was still a congressman.
Ombudsman Remulla claimed that the reversal of the dismissal order against Sen. Joel Villanueva was allegedly done in “secret” and it was not publicized. Recently, the country’s chief graft-buster spoke anew on the said ruling.
“Umaga yung kinausap ko si Karen Davila. When I got to the office ibinigay sa akin yung decision ni Ombudsman Martires na nireverse niya ang ruling ni Conchita [Carpio-Morales] na hindi natin nakikita. Walang nakakita noon e. It’s never been made public,” Remulla said based on a report on ABS-CBN News.
Ombudsman Remulla further expressed that Sen. Joel Villanueva is supposedly trying to make it look like he has been politically-harassed over the previous dismissal order against him. He stressed that the Senator was allegedly not speaking about it the whole time but he did not disclosed it to the public.
“Tama ba yon? Ba’t hindi sinabi sa ‘ting lahat, may interes ang taong bayan, binoto natin ang tao tapos ganoon? Itatago mo sa amin ang katotohanan?” the Ombudsman said.
Based on the report, Ombudsman Remulla stressed that he is still not done about the case against sen. Joel Villanueva. According to him, they might refile the case.
“Silang dalawa lang ang may alam. Hindi pa kami tapos… pag aaralan namin. We might have to refile the case, wala namang double jeopardy ‘yun. For now aral muna… aral ulit,” he said.