page_title: Joel Villanueva
section_title: TESDA
hierarchical_section_title: Joel Villanueva / Career / Politics / TESDA
caption_attribution_description: English: Joel Villanueva playing for "Team Tesda" in an exhibition game by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) dedicated to out-of-school-youths.
context_page_description: Emmanuel Joel Villanueva is a Filipino politician, who serves as a Senator of the Philippines. He took his senatorial seat following the 2016 Philippine national elections, where he ranked second highest in the polls with 18,459,222 votes. He was a former Director General of the Philippine TESDA from 2010 until 2015 and a three-term congressman from 2001 through 2010. Villanueva was the youngest member of the House of Representatives when he assumed office in February 2002.
  He is also a basketball player currently playing for the Senate Defenders in the UNTV Cup. He also played for the Philippine national team, and the University of Santo Tomas.
context_section_description: He was appointed by President Benigno Aquino III as TESDA chief in 2010. Upon assuming his post as head of TESDA, Villanueva initiated an audit of the agency stemming from a ₱2.4 billion sponsorship debt related to undocumented TESDA scholarships. The audit reduced the agency's debt to ₱880 million after eliminating "ghost schools" and "ghost scholars".
  As TESDA chief, he initiated the "Shoot for your Dream" series, an aspirational program which involved exhibition games featuring Philippine Basketball Association legends. Villanueva himself played as part of the basketball exhibition team, named "Team Trabaho".
  Under his watch, TESDA's central office, as well as 17 regional offices and 81 provincial offices, were granted ISO certifications. Among these certifications included the office at the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, the first TESDA office to receive such a certification in Mindanao.
  While in office as Director General of TESDA, he completed an extensive vocational course in Advanced Food and Beverage Services within the agency for training as a barista.
  Prior to launching a senatorial bid, he tendered his resignation from the post on October 9, 2015. His resignation went effective on October 13, 2015 and President Benigno Aquino III named TESDA deputy director general, Irene Isaac as his successor.
caption: Villanueva playing for Team Trabaho, as part of his "Shoot for your Dream" program.
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