By Ade S. Fajardo
Senator Joel Villanueva was among the less prominent personalities involved in the Napoles Pork Barrel Scandal near the end of the PNoy administration in 2015.
The more visible indictees were Senators Bong Revilla, Jinggoy Estrada and Juan Ponce Enrile, who were detained for some time for the non-bailable offense of plunder.
Villanueva was then a party-list congressman representing, ironically, Citizens’ Battle Against Corruption (CIBAC).
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Villanueva’s alleged pork barrel involvement amounted to only P10 million, not enough for a plunder charge.
He was indicted for two counts of violation of Section 3 (e) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act (Republic Act No. 3019), one count each for malversation of public funds and malversation thru falsification of public documents.
According to former Ombudsman Samuel Martires, he granted Villanueva’s motion for reconsideration in an order issued in July 2019.
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There seem to be no reports indicating that the Sandiganbayan had ordered the senator’s preventive suspension when the criminal information/s were filed against him.
The Sandiganbayan has the power to order the preventive suspension of a government official upon the filing of a criminal information for violations of the Anti-Plunder Law and the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.
The assumption is that the criminal cases have been withdrawn in view of Martires’ order reversing the indictment.
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It was former Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales, Martires’ predecessor, who ordered the filing of the criminal charges in court.
She also ordered Villanueva dismissed from service in November 2016, after finding him liable for misuse of pork barrel in 2008 when he was party-list congressman.
This is the same decision that did not persuade the Senate to expel Villanueva.
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According to Carpio-Morales’ decision, P10 million from Villanueva’s Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) was released in June 2008 to the National Agri-Business Corporation (Nabcor) to fund livelihood projects in the congressional districts of Region 11.
The NGO that was supposed to implement the projects was Aaron Foundation Philippines Incorporated (AFPI). However, it was discovered that there were no agriculture-based livelihood projects under AFPI in the area.
The fund intended to buy seedlings, fertilizers and threshers for several municipalities in Compostela Valley province purportedly went nowhere. The Ombudsman’s investigation showed that the intended municipalities were not suitable for farming. The beneficiaries were ghosts.
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If Villanueva had timely filed his motion seeking reconsideration of the Ombudsman decision, why did it take almost three years to resolve it?
Party-list Congressmen Terry Ridon last week asked newly minted Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla to examine the exact timeline that led to the reversal of the dismissal order against Villanueva.
“We urge Ombudsman Remulla to look deeper into these timelines, in order to finally settle the questions surrounding Senator Villanueva’s Ombudsman case,” said Ridon.
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Only Villanueva and his lawyers know what actually happened.
From the surface, however, it would appear that the senator has skirted the Napoles chapter in his storied political career.
Time will tell whether voters will continue to trust him with their ballots. The solution is perhaps more political than legal./WDJ