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<img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.kahimyang.com/resources-8/villanueva-jil.webp" alt="Villanueva at Jesus is Lord anniversary" />
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(Joel Villanueva at the 40th anniversary of Jesus Is Lord in Manila, October 27, 2018)
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ABS-CBN apologist Christian Monsod, Liberal Party gopher and ex-Supreme Court Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr., and Aquino family underling and current Commission on Human Rights head Jose Luis Gascon were among those unelected individuals who drafted the error-ridden 1987 Constitution.


Joel Villanueva is the son of Eddie Villanueva, an ex-dissident who founded the Jesus is Lord (JIL) Church in 1978. The church has many followers today, and observers suspect that the Villanueva family is using the church as a political organization in their insatiable desire for elective public office. After all, it is public knowledge that JIL is behind the Citizen's Battle Against Corruption (CIBAC) Party, which has chapters all over the country.

Eddie Villanueva lost in both the 2004 and 2010 presidential elections. In May 2019, he won a congressional seat under CIBAC. He is currently one of several deputy speakers of the House.


Like his father, Joel Villanueva began his political career through the JIL-supported CIBAC Party. His siblings are known personalities in Bulacan politics.


Although Joel Villanueva won three terms in the House of Representatives of Congress (2001-2010), his third term (2007-2010) was declared illegal by the Supreme Court in a decision written by then Justice Conchita Carpio-Morales (<a href="https://lawphil.net/judjuris/juri2010/jun2010/gr_189600_2010.html" class="news_link" target="_blank" title="Source">GR 189600; June 29, 2010</a>).


The decision of the Supreme Court was ineffectual because it was promulgated on June 29, 2010, Joel Villanueva's last day in office in the House.


In 2010, Joel Villanueva joined the administration of President Benigno Aquino III as head of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), a post he held until October 2015.


The Commission on Audit discovered several anomalies during Villanueva's term as TESDA chief, including his having received, through TESDA, funds from the now-infamous Disbursement Acceleration Program of Congress.



After leaving TESDA in October 2015, Joel Villanueva won as senator in the May 2016 election.


In November 2016, then Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales ordered Villanueva dismissed from government service after finding him liable for misuse of P10 million of his Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), also known as "pork barrel," during his last term as CIBAC party list representative in 2008.


The Ombudsman said the P10 million was released in June 2008 to the National Agri-Business Corporation for alleged agriculture-based livelihood projects in several municipalities nationwide, to be implemented by a religious-sounding entity called the Aaron Foundation Philippines Inc. Investigators discovered that the funds were ultimately intended for inexistent beneficiaries.


In ordering Villanueva's dismissal from government service, the Ombudsman found him guilty of grave misconduct, serious dishonesty and conduct prejudicial to the interest of the service. He was also charged in the Sandiganbayan for several counts of graft.


The irony of it all is that Joel Villanueva ran for office on a platform supposedly dedicated against corruption in government.


Unfortunately for public interest, then Senate President Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III ignored the Ombudsman's order and insisted that only the Senate can unseat an incumbent senator.


Pimentel is currently facing a criminal investigation for breaching quarantine protocols by accompanying his pregnant wife to the Makati Medical Center and by going shopping and partying, when he was already a carrier of the deadly COVID-19 virus.


The haughty Pimentel is now on his questionable third consecutive term in the Senate, but only because the Senate Electoral Tribunal dismissed the quo warranto proceedings filed against him.


Joel Villanueva knows that under the law, the dismissal order issued by the Ombudsman is lawful, as well as final and executory. He insists, however, on remaining in office and enjoying the perks of being a senator.


Corruption is a sin. It is a term broad enough to include holding on to public office when there is a lawful order to the contrary. If Joel Villanueva is truly against corruption, he should stop being pretentious and resign forthwith from the Senate.


As Saint Matthew said:

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"For what good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?"

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Senator Villanueva! Practice what your father preaches in your church!



Sources

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Senator Joel Villanueva's shameless disregard for the law, <a href="https://tribune.net.ph" class="news_link" title="Source" target="_blank">Concept News Central</a>, July 22, 2020, The Daily Tribune
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READ: <a href="https://lawphil.net/judjuris/juri2010/jun2010/gr_189600_2010.html" class="news_link" target="_blank" target="Read">G.R. No. 189600</a>, Milagros Amores vs House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal and Emmanuel Joel Villanueva
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The story of Joel Villanueva, son of the founder of Jesus Is Lord, and his shameless disregard for the law