Concept
Eduardo Cruz Villanueva (born October 6, 1946), most commonly referred to as "Bro. Eddie Villanueva", is an evangelist and president-founder of the Jesus Is Lord Church Worldwide (JILCW). Villanueva was previously a communist-atheist, radical activist, and street parliamentarian. During martial law, he was imprisoned twice for fighting alongside the oppressed for their rights against land grabbing syndicates. Villanueva is also the founder of the Philippines for Jesus Movement (PJM), which has more than forty bishops from different Christian churches nationwide as members. Villanueva was a presidential candidate in the 2004 and 2010 Philippine elections and a senatorial candidate in the 2013 midterm Philippine elections, all as the standard bearer of the Bangon Pilipinas Party. Villanueva is a radio-TV evangelist owning ZOE Broadcasting Network, a commercial television and radio broadcasting station which owns VHF Channel 11 (A2Z) and UHF Channel 33 (Light TV). He is also the owner and founder of the Jesus Is Lord Colleges Foundation, Inc. (JILCF), a Christian school in Bocaue, Bulacan, where his wife, Adoracion Villanueva is the school president. He is currently a member of the 19th Congress of the Philippines and has been a Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives in the 18th Congress. Villanueva was born on October 6, 1946 in Bocaue, Bulacan to parents Joaquin Villanueva and Maria Cruz. Joaquin Villanueva was a former Olympic sprinter who represented the Philippines in the Far Eastern Games for four consecutive years in 1920s. In 1969, Villanueva graduated with a degree in commerce, majoring in economics, from the Philippine College of Commerce (PCC), since renamed the Polytechnic University of the Philippines. He was immersed in both student and labor movements in the 1970s, joining the progressive segments of society which opposed Marcos' dictatorship. Villanueva also took up law at the University of the Philippines but was already into so much activism that he never had time to take the bar examination.
