Ombudsman drops bid to enforce Villanueva dismissal

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.

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"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 suddenly came out when I said that I will do something about the dismissal order," he said, referring to Martires' decision. "It's a surprise, a secret decision." In an interview with ANC yesterday, Remulla said he would personally hand over 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.