Joel Villanueva  Emmanuel Joel Villanueva (, born August 2, 1975) 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 2010-2015 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. Joel Villanueva was born on August 2, 1975 in Bocaue, Bulacan. He is the second of four children of the Philippine Christian evangelist Eddie Villanueva and Adoracion "Dory" Jose-Villanueva. He attended the University of Santo Tomas where he graduated in 1996 with a Bachelor of Science in Commerce degree, with a Major in Economics. He attended Harvard University in the United States for graduate studies in Business Administration from 1996 to 1998. While a student of the University of Santo Tomas, Villanueva played with the UST Growling Tigers varsity basketball team, that won the UAAP Season 56 and 57 of 1994–1995. Villanueva was part of the Philippines national basketball team that competed in international basketball competitions such as the inaugural 1994 SEABA Championship (coached by Virgil Villavicencio). He returned to competitive basketball in 2013, playing for the Congress-LGU Legislators in the UNTV Cup. In 2014, he played for the Malacañang Patriots. After winning a Senate seat, Villanueva joined the Senate Defenders basketball team, in preparations for the opening of Season 5 of the UNTV Cup. He was part of the Defenders' championship team that won the UNTV Cup Season 6 in 2018. Villanueva was elected to the Philippine House of Representatives in 2001 as a party-list representative of the Citizens' Battle Against Corruption (CIBAC). However, his oath-taking was stalled for seven months following issues that CIBAC was an extension of the Jesus Is Lord Church Worldwide, a Christian church founded by his father, Eddie Villanueva. At age 26, Villanueva took his oath of office in February 2002, becoming the youngest member of the House of Representatives (a distinction previously held by Felix William Fuentebella).