Joel Villanueva: Some LP forces want me out of admin loop

Following the filing of a malversation complaint against him over the pork barrel scam, Cabinet member Joel Villanueva on Tuesday said there were personalities from the ruling Liberal Party (LP) who wanted him out of the administration circle.

The Technical Education Skills and Development Authority (Tesda) secretary also clarified that LP standard-bearer Manuel “Mar” Roxas II had nothing to do with the pork charges, contrary to what a newspaper report said.

“Unfortunately, si Secretary Mar naman ‘yung tinira ng iba. Gusto ko rin pong sabihin at muli, for the record, I am certain the Secretary Mar has nothing to do with this. Sinasabi ko rin po na I stand by my word na mayroong mga forces at ilang personalidad na ayaw ako sa loob ng party,” Villanueva said over Radyo Inquirer 990AM.

But when asked if he knows who these personalities are, the Tesda director general said he “can only speculate.”

“Siguro may guts din po tayo kaya ayaw nating banggitin kase baka mamaya hindi rin po maganda na mag-point fingers. Siguro sa isang healthy organization, okay na rin po na merong ‘di nag-aagree sa inyo,” he added.

READ: Roxas not behind Tesda chief’s pork scam complaint, Abad says

‘Selective justice’

Villanueva also dismissed the pork complaint against as a form of “selective justice,” saying that he “sounded like a broken record” in maintaining that the signatures on the documents of alleged transactions with accused pork barrel mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles were forged.

“Ang lumalabas po ngayon at ang conclusion malinaw sa taumbayan, selective yung justice na ating nararanasan. But just the same, I remain positive kase siguro ito na rin po yung aking contribution para sa ganun ‘yung ating justice system ay malinis natin ng husto. Sana ako na lang yung huling biktima,” Villanueva said.

“Aaminin ko po sa inyo nakakalungkot at nakapagtataka na bagamat napakadaming ebidensya na hindi po ako dapat kasama, pero pinilit pa rin po akong isama… Kung tayo naman po, hindi tayo natatakot sa katotohanan at handa po tayong harapin ito,” he added.

Nevertheless, Villanueva said he is positive and confident that the filing of the complaint will give him an avenue to defend himself over allegations being hurled against him.

“Somehow, I feel relieved na mabibigyan ako ng pagkakataon na malaman talaga. Ano itong complaint na ito… siguradong sigurado po ako, maliwanag pa sa sikat ng araw na kaya ko pong sagutin ito at kayang idepensa ang aking sarili,” he said.

Villanueva also maintained that he does not know the Napoles family in any way.

“Hindi ko po sila kilala, walang transaksyon, hindi nakausap kahit po phone conversation. Kahit po staff, kahit buong opisina, wala po totally. So hindi po dapat. Nakakalungkot, yung iba kase kinukumpara tayo dun sa ibang naakusahan,” he added.

Villanueva is part of the last batch of pork barrel scam raps. He is accused of receiving P2.33 million in kickbacks from his alleged dealings with Napoles’ bogus founadation Masaganang Ani Para sa Magsasaka Foundation Inc. when he was still representative for the Citizens Battle Against Corruption (Cibac) party-list. With reports from Angeli Mae S. Cantillana, Inquirer.net trainee

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