Villa nueva, indeed

Senator Joel Villanueva must have been gleefully hugging himself all these years.

A favorable decision from Ombudsman Samuel Martires, exonerating him from a previous decision by the far more formidable Ombudswoman Conchita Carpio-Morales, and giving him a get-out-of-disqualification purgatory card. The ultimate trump card. Freedom to run. Freedom to reign. Freedom to walk in the corridors of power.

What a delightful, delicious secret. Something that must have made him chortle and giggle through all these years, a fantabulous rabbit to pull out of his magician’s hat when --and if-- the time came.

Imagine that. All these years, all those critics and naysayers have been denouncing his candidacy for being flawed, alleging that Ombudswoman Carpio-Morales’ conviction of a decision gives him zero ability to run. And throughout, he has been snickering, nay sniggering, at a colossal joke only he and Martires knew about.

Ombudsman Martires. We take a look at you. After imposing the sudden embargo on releasing the SALNs (Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth required to be filed by all public officials) when you took office after being appointed by ex-prez Duterte, it seems you have been busy handing down decisions that are likewise embargoed. Junked in dustbins, gathering mold and allergens, until the proper time comes for revelation.

Is it joke time already? Okay, trot it out! Time to give the populace a whack on the head!

You say you were protecting people’s reputations by not revealing decisions. Exactly whose reputation were you protecting? Senator Villanueva’s own reputation would have been cleansed way back in 2019 if you had released it then. Instead, it suffered six more years of blackening. People thought the 2016 decision of Ombudswoman Carpio-Morales was in effect all this while. Perhaps, it was not his reputation you were concerned about then. Let’s think, people. Whose reputation would have been stained?

Senator Francis Pangilinan has a joke of his own. He proposes that among the first SALNs that should be disclosed (after the newest and shiniest Ombudman Remulla reversed the disclosure ban) should be that of Ombudsman Martires.

Can we take you seriously, Senator Kiko? That would be such fun! We’re already salivating. Can we review each and every line item in Ombudsman Martires’ SALNs? For each and every year that he was an ombudsman, from the date he was appointed by Duterte, until today? And then perhaps use the SALNs he also submitted when he served a couple of years in the Supreme Court? Scrutinize them, compare them against each other, and figure out how his net worth fared during the time that the public could not access vital information on their public servants?

I’m not suggesting anything happened, you guys. I’m not implying anything that might stain Ombudsman Martires’ reputation today --because, well, exactly what kind of damage can I do to his reputation after the revelations of this secret decision hiding in Senator Villanueva’s hope chest?

I’m just saying this might be a good exercise for frustrated, infuriated citizens who might want to sink their teeth into chewy, juicy material. It would be so satisfying to build a case against the Ombudsman. What case, you might ask? Oh, naughty, naughty. Let’s wait until the SALNs are out, shall we?

Who do these political appointees think they are anyway, that they can summarily decide to shield themselves from scrutiny? How long do they think their impunity will last? Do they not realize that if they step on the carefully-inculcated and designed values and principles of accountability and good governance that we hold dear in this society, that one day, someone’s ass is going to get bit?

Villanueva’s name, if translated from Spanish, means a new town. A new place. Quite apt, if you ask me. There’s a new ombudsman in town, baby. It’s a new day. And perhaps, the joke will be on you.