MANILA — Ombudsman Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla has announced that his office will no longer ask the Senate to enforce a 2016 dismissal order against Senator Joel Villanueva, after discovering that the case had already been overturned several years ago.

Remulla said he was “surprised” to learn of what he described as a “secret decision” issued by former Ombudsman Samuel Martires in 2019, which granted Villanueva’s motion for reconsideration and effectively voided the earlier dismissal.

“I was surprised by the decision. Lumabas lang siya nung sinabi kong may gagawin ang Ombudsman tungkol d’yan. So it’s a surprise secret decision,” Remulla told reporters.

“Nobody was raising that issue before. Villanueva kept quiet through all the years. Ombudsman Martires never spoke about it,” he added.

The original dismissal order, issued in 2016 by then Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales, stemmed from allegations that Villanueva had misused his Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) during his time as a party-list representative.

However, according to Remulla, neither the Senate nor the public had been informed of Martires’s 2019 ruling, which cleared Villanueva of wrongdoing due to lack of probable cause.

The Senate had previously declined to enforce the 2016 order, maintaining that only the chamber itself has the authority to discipline or remove its members.

Villanueva, for his part, said he had long anticipated “possible harassment” over the issue and had already presented documents showing that the Ombudsman had dismissed the case more than six years ago.

“In fact, there is no probable cause against Villanueva… The signatures appearing on top of his name were obviously forged,” the excerpt read.

“We already anticipated possible HARASSMENT 🙏 plus FAKE NEWS,” Villanueva added.

📷 Boying Remulla FB, Joel Villanueva FB