Ombudsman Remulla: Dismissal of raps vs. Villanueva 'a secret decision'

Former Ombudsman Samuel Martires' dismissal of the complaints against Sen. Joel Villanueva in connection with the alleged misuse Priority Development Assistance Fund was "a secret decision," Ombudsman Jesus Crispin "Boying" Remulla said on Thursday.

After Remulla said that he was going to ask Senate President Vicente "Tito" Sotto III to implement former Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales' dismissal order in 2016 on Villanueva, the senator said the case against him had been dismissed in 2019.

Martires then confirmed that he dismissed the raps against Villanueva.

"Lumabas lang siya nung sinabi ko na may gagawin ang Ombudsman tungkol diyan. So it is a surprise, secret decision," Remulla said.

"Nobody was raising that issue before, Joel Villanueva kept quiet over the years, Ombudsman Martires never spoke about it. Alam niyo ba iyon? Nobody knows about it," Remulla added.

Remulla said he was not being unfair to Villanueva but was merely taking action given that the Ombudsman's 2019 decision on the Villanueva case was not previously published.

"'Di naman napublish yan, di 'yan nilabas. Nobody knew about it. Kahit sa Senate hindi nila alam 'yan. Don't you call that a secret decision?" Remulla said. 

"It is not harassment. It is what everybody thinks is still valid, but turned out to be not valid anymore due to a secret decision," he added.

'Mysterious'

Remulla said it was hard to believe that a resolution concerning public interest by the previous Ombudsman would not be released to the public.

"It is a very mysterious decision. He ran for public office. He was elected senator. So it is a very newsworthy thing. It is something that is in the public interest,” Remulla said.

Remulla said his office would study the 2019 Ombudsman decision clearing Villanueva of any criminal or administrative liability over the misuse of PDAF allocation.

But asked if he would still ask Senate President Sotto to enforce the 2016 Ombudsman decision on Villanueva’s dismissal, Remulla replied, “Hindi na, [kasi] nagbago na ‘yung premises natin.”

(I won’t write to the Senate President anymore because the circumstances have changed.)

'Forged signature'

Martires said that he dismissed the complaints against Villanueva in 2019 due to a forged signature. 

"Kasi ang ginamit na pangalan sa request ng Buhay Party-list ay pangalan ni Senator Joel Villanueva nung siya ay congressman pa. Finorge yung signature at there is no evidence on record na yung pera na natanggap ng Buhay party-list ay napunta kay Senator Joel Villanueva," the former Ombudsman told Super Radyo dzBB.

(The name used in the request of the Buhay Party-list was the name of Senator Joel Villanueva when he was still a congressman. The signature was forged, and there is no evidence on record that the money received by the Buhay Party-list went to Senator Joel Villanueva.)

"Alam mo kasi magdaling magbintang na mayroon kang PDAF, binigyan ka ng project, na yung pera na ‘yun ay napunta sa’yo. Mahirap patunayan nun unless there is really proof….Pero kung wala, bakit natin ipipilit yung ating maling pananaw sa buhay," he added.

(You know, it's easy to accuse someone of having PDAF, of being given a project, and that the money went to them. That is difficult to prove unless there is really proof... But if there's none, why should we insist on our mistaken view?)

Not a secret, says Martires

Martires also pointed out that the decision was never a secret. 

“Aba ay hindi ko alam kung anong sikreto sa amin. Kasi mayroon kaming tinatawag na CCMS, yung case management system. Kapag yung kaso ay nare-release, napapasok ‘yan sa system eh. So nandun sa system na nadismiss ko ‘yun, ang date ay July 2019,” the former Ombudsman told Super Radyo dzBB.

(Well, I don't know what secret we are keeping. We have what we call the CCMS, the case management system. When the case is released, it enters the system. So, it is in the system that I dismissed that case, the date was July 2019.) 

“Ayan naman ay ibinigay sa may complainant sa complainant, binigay kay Senator Joel. So hindi ko alam bakit sasabihin na may sikreto akong ginawa? Wala akong sikretong ginagawa sa aking trabaho, na lahat ay nakabuyangyang,” he added. 

(That, in turn, was given to the complainant; it was given to Senator Joel. So, I don't know why it would be said that I did something secret. I am not doing anything secret in my work; everything is exposed to the public.)   –NB, GMA Integrated News