By Atty. Victor C. Avecilla — October 14, 2025
ON Saturday, October 18, 2025, the Jesus is Lord (JIL) Church, a Christian evangelical movement founded in 1978, will be celebrating the 47th anniversary of its foundation. Partylist politician and political dynasty leader Eddie Villanueva is the founder of the movement.
The JIL is the organization behind the partylist group Cibac, which was established in 1997. Eddie Villanueva’s family is a political dynasty because members of his family dominate Bulacan politics, and one son, Joel Villanueva, is on his second term as a senator. The elder Villanueva made two unsuccessful runs for the presidency in 2004 and in 2010, and an unsuccessful bid for the Senate in the 2013 midterm elections. Since then, Eddie Villanueva has confined himself to the partylist level.
Despite the constitutional and biblical mandate separating religion from politics, the JIL group has been actively engaged in partisan politics through Cibac, and by way of Senator Joel Villanueva.
Observers note that the command votes of the JIL group form the voter base of Cibac. Joel Villanueva himself began his political career as a partylist congressman of Cibac. He won his first term in the Senate in the May 2016 elections.
On November 14, 2016, Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales rendered a decision dismissing Joel Villanueva from public service for “grave misconduct, serious dishonesty, and conduct prejudicial to the interest of the service.” He was also declared perpetually disqualified from holding public office. That ruling arose from Villanueva’s misuse of his priority development assistance fund (also known as the pork barrel fund) in 2008 during his tenure as Cibac partylist representative.
Even when the decision of the Ombudsman became final and executory, Joel Villanueva refused to relinquish his seat in the Senate. Villanueva’s refusal to abide by that decision found support from then Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III, who is just as controversial as Villanueva. They contended that the Office of the Ombudsman has no authority over members of the Senate, and that senators may be removed from office only by the Senate Ethics Committee.
That brazen disregard for the law by Joel Villanueva was further compounded by his adamant refusal to step down from public office in 2022, after serving a full six-year term as senator. His seemingly insatiable lust for public power and the perks that go with it must have been the reason for his quest for a second term in the Senate in 2022. He won his reelection bid, but he still refused to relinquish power on the basis of the same flimsy excuse that the Office of the Ombudsman has no authority over him.
Imagine that! A senator, a lawmaker, shamelessly breaking the law, not just once but twice!
The big question is this — Where does Joel Villanueva get the gall to face the followers of the JIL Church, when he has been declared, by final judgment, unfit to continue in public service because of his misuse of public funds? As the son of the founder of their church, shouldn’t Joel Villanueva lead by example by obeying the law and stepping down from office? He often preaches that Filipinos should obey the law. Doesn’t Joel Villanueva practice what he preaches?
Another question is this – Why does the JIL Church tolerate Joel Villanueva’s refusal to obey the law, notwithstanding his status as a lawmaker?
Perhaps, the perks of high public office are so habit-forming that Joel Villanueva refuses to be honorable enough to obey the law.
Joel Villanueva has been disqualified by the Office of the Ombudsman effective November 2016. He has remained in office as a senator from November 2016 up to the present. That is a period of almost nine years already.
This means that Joel Villanueva is not lawfully entitled to the salaries and allowances he has consistently received as a senator for the past nine years. That is graft plain and simple, punishable with imprisonment under Republic Act No. 3019, otherwise known as the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act. There is also a legal obligation on his part to return that sum of money to the government precisely because he is not lawfully entitled to it.
For nine years, Joel Villanueva has managed to avoid complying with the processes of the law. It is time he is made accountable for his avoidance.
The new Ombudsman, Jesus Crispin Remulla, has promised to combat anomalies in government service. He will certainly be interested in the Joel Villanueva case. ■
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