Senator Joel Villanueva is the guest judge on the popular segment “Bawal Judgmental” of the longest-running noontime show Eat! Bulaga tomorrow, Jan. 9.
“Isang karangalan po ang ma-imbitahan ng Eat! Bulaga sa kanilang ‘Bawal Judgmental’ segment. Excited po tayo pakinggan ang mga kwento ng ating mga manlalaro,” Villanueva said.
Villanueva is known for steering the lead agency promoting technical-vocational education to greater heights.
In his five-year stint as director general of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), he offered a fresh perspective on how tech-voc can enable workers lift themselves out of poverty through the “Training, Trabaho, TESDA” campaign, which produced over nine million skilled workers.
The feat earned him the nickname “TESDAMan,” which catapulted him to the Senate in 2016. Villanueva continued pursuing labor issues affecting everyday workers, as chair of the Senate Committee on Labor, Employment, and Human Resources Development.
He passed significant pieces of legislation to protect and promote the welfare of workers such as the Work-from-Home law, Occupational Safety and Health Standards law, First-time Jobseekers Act, among other laws.
Villanueva finished Economics at the University of Santo Tomas in Manila and took Special Studies in Business Administration at Harvard University. He is also a TESDA-certified Barista NC III and was conferred a Doctorate in Humanities, Honoris Causa, by the Polytechnic University of the Philippines.
He also suited up for the UST Growling Tigers in his college days, and was part of the legendary teams who strung four consecutive championships from 1993 to 1996 in the UAAP.
The Bulakenyo senator is married to Gladys Cruz-Villanueva and they are blessed with two children. His father, Bro. Eddie Villanueva, is the founder and Spiritual Director of the Jesus Is Lord (JIL) Church Worldwide and currently one of the Deputy Speakers in the House of Representatives.