Department of Justice (DOJ) Undersecretary Emmeline Aglipay Villar has decided to resign from her post effective March 21 to support the senatorial bid of her husband, former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Mark A. Villar.
In an announcement issued on Monday, Feb. 28, Justice Secretary Menardo I. Guevarra said:
“It is with deep sadness that I announce the resignation of Atty. Emmeline Aglipay Villar as undersecretary of the Department of Justice (DOJ) effective on 21 March 2022.
“She will campaign for her husband, former DPWH secretary Mark Villar, who is running for senator in the upcoming elections in May 2022.
“Usec. EM (as the undersecretary is fondly called) will continue to work until her last day in office.
“As of today, no other undersecretary or assistant secretary is leaving the DOJ.”
Undersecretary Villar was appointed to the DOJ in July 2018, just months after Guevarra took over as justice secretary in April 2018.
Guevarra said that “Usec. Emmeline’s passionate advocacy for the protection of women’s and children’s rights found expression in her work as in charge of the Inter-Agency Council Against (human) Trafficking (IACAT) and the DOJ’s gender and special protections group.”
“She was also in charge of the DOJ secretary’s legal staff,” he added.
Villar was also appointed as the spokesperson of the DOJ.
She finished her law degree from the University of the Philippines (UP) in 2006.
Prior her DOJ appointment, Undersecretary Villar also served as representative of Partylist group Democratic Independent Workers’ Association (DIWA).