Following the announcement of Ombudsman Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla on Wednesday to release documents on complaints filed against Sen. Joel Villanueva, the Office of the Ombudsman released on Thursday the related files concerning the alleged misuse of the senator’s Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF).

The released documents show that during the tenure of then Ombudsman Samuel Martires, a 2019 order was issued reversing a 2016 resolution that had charged Villanueva and other individuals with malversation of public funds through falsification of public documents and violation of Republic Act 3019, or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

These documents reversed a 2016 decision by then Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales, which dismissed Villanueva from service for grave misconduct and serious dishonesty. The reversal also nullified the decision to indict Villanueva for the PDAF-related charges filed when he was still a representative of the CIBAC Party-list.

According to the documents, Villanueva filed motions for reconsideration on 7 November and 2 December 2016. Under Martires’ leadership in 2019, these motions were granted.

“This office finds cogent basis to reconsider its questioned resolution of 15 July 2016. In fact, there is no probable cause against Villanueva as it was not shown that he was actually involved in the embezzlement of the P9.7 million in public funds,” the decision stated.

Furthermore, the decision said that the signature above Villanueva’s name in his acceptance reports on the distribution of agribusiness materials “was obviously forged.” The 2019 ruling emphasized that there was no sufficient evidence on record showing the senator’s involvement in any scheme to defraud the government, even if the funds appeared to have been lost due to “unscrupulous individuals.”

“In fact, no part of the P9,700,000.00 was shown to have been taken by the aforementioned respondents,” the decision added.

To recall, Villanueva’s previous PDAF cases resurfaced after Ombudsman Remulla asked Senate President Vicente Sotto to enforce Morales’ 2016 dismissal order against Villanueva.

Remulla later learned that the Morales decisions were reversed by Martires in July 2019 — a ruling that he described as a “secret decision.” Martires has since said he could not recall why the 2019 decision was not made publicly available.