Faces of the News: Joel Villanueva, Ronnie Dayan, Harra Kazuo, others

Joel Villanueva

After warming his seat for nearly four months in the Senate, he now faces the prospect of losing it. The Ombudsman has ordered his dismissal for allegedly funneling P10 million of his pork barrel fund as a congressional representative to ghost beneficiaries. He has filed a motion for reconsideration. If the Ombudsman rejects his motion, the Senate will then decide whether it will abide by the body’s order dismissing him. Suddenly, his fate as a young senator hangs in the balance.

Ronnie Dayan

He has been dragged into the limelight anew when Sen. Leila de Lima admitted on national TV she had a romance with him. For many, he is just a name, and known only as De Lima’s former driver-bodyguard. He has managed to elude journalists, and even the House sergeant at arms out to serve an arrest order on him for skipping its inquiry into the illegal drug trade in New Bilibid Prison, in which he had been accused of collecting drug money for the then Justice Secretary De Lima.

Harra Kazuo

Her common-law husband and father-in-law were killed in cold blood by policemen inside a Pasay City police station. She’s a victim, and yet she’s in hiding with her three children, fearing for their lives.

Thankfully, they’re now under a witness protection program of the Commission on Human Rights, which is keeping tabs on extrajudicial killings (EJKs), now numbering more than 4,000. Without intending to, she has emerged as the face of the growing number of kin of EJK victims.

Robin Padilla

Out of the blue, he was granted absolute pardon by President Duterte this week, 22 years after he was convicted for illegal possession of firearms. To many it didn’t come as a surprise since the actor actively campaigned for the then Davao City mayor in the May 2016 presidential election. Having publicly rooted for previous presidents, he insists the pardon wasn’t a political favor. He was earlier granted conditional pardon by then President Fidel V. Ramos

Martin Andanar

He has drawn flak after branding critics of the Supreme Court’s vote on the hero’s burial for Ferdinand Marcos as “temperamental brats” in a column he writes for the Inquirer. “An incorrigible brat,” retorted Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman, who, like Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III, advised the presidential spokesperson to review his history. Finding himself at the center of news, he has since apologized for his comment.

Thomas Dooley

Former United States World Cup captain Thomas Dooley is hard-pressed to pilot the Philippine Azkals to a first Asean Football Federation Suzuki Cup title as the group stage of the tournament is held for the first time in the country from Nov. 19 to 25. Leading a squad hit by injuries and absence of key players, Dooley is under the microscope as he attempts to find the right combinations that will lead the Azkals to success in the eight-nation tournament where powerhouse Thailand is the heavy favorite.