Makabayan solons flag ‘double standards’ in Remulla son’s arrest
MANILA, Philippines — Two lawmakers part of the progressive Makabayan bloc raised what they called “double standards” in the arrest of Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla’s son, contrasting this with the thousands of killings of illegal drug suspects in the course of the previous administration’s “war on drugs.”
“If you are rich and a child of someone in government, you will be given due process. If you’re poor, you’ll face imprisonment or a gun,” Rep. Arlene Brosas (Gabriela party-list) said Friday in a statement in Filipino.
Brosas, along with Rep. France Castro (ACT Teachers party-list), also questioned why it took two days for the arrest of Juanito Jose Remulla III to be made public.
“If he weren’t the son of Sec. Boying, authorities would have most likely brought media to that drug operation and news of it immediately surfaced, or worse maybe he would’ve been killed and accused of fighting back,” Castro said in a separate statement in Filipino.
The government says 6,235 people have died in anti-drug operations from July 1, 2016 to Feb. 28, 2022, but human rights groups say this is a gross undercount as they peg the number of people who were killed close to around 30,000.
Brosas and Castro said there must be no special treatment given to Remulla’s son and that the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. must prosecute him to the full extent of the law.
“There must be no tolerance for impunity. A transparent investigation must take place to hold accountable the suspects and those who were involved in this issue,” Brosas said.
The Makabayan bloc is part of the opposition.
The justice secretary, however, has vowed that he will not interfere and will let the justice system dictate the fate of his 38-year-old son who was arrested Tuesday with close to a kilogram of what anti-drug operatives said was high-grade marijuana and was charged for possession of illegal drugs three days after.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. rejected Friday calls for Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla to resign from his position following the arrest of his son in a drug operation earlier this week, saying the demands have “no basis.”
More lawmakers have also backed Remulla, the senior deputy majority leader at the House of Representatives in the previous Congress.
READ: Remulla finds unlikely allies in opposition figures De Lima, Lagman
House Majority Leader Manuel Dalipe called quit calls for Remulla “premature and unnecessary” as he said this will only “muddle” his son’s case.
“The SOJ holds a position of trust and as long as the president trusts him and sees him as an effective member of the cabinet, I see no reason for him to resign,” Dalipe said Friday in a statement.
Sen. Bong Revilla, an ally of the Remulla clan, also vouched for the justice secretary’s character.
“I know Secretary Boying Remulla as a decent person who is true to his word,” Revilla said Saturday in a statement in Filipino. “I believe him when he said he will uphold his oath and the law.”
“Let us not judge him on the fault of others but on his competence and performance. The fault of the child is not the fault of the father,” Revilla added.
Remulla also received unexpected support from key opposition figures such as Rep. Edcel Lagman (Albay, 1st District) and former Sen. Leila de Lima.
“While we cannot choose our relatives, we can choose not to intervene on their behalf for violation of the law,” Lagman said Friday. “It is different when one covers up or denies the patent culpability of a relative or ancestor.”
Still, Lagman said the Remulla family must explain why it took them two days to disclose the arrest and detention of one of their clan members.
De Lima, on the other hand, said she “can only sympathize” with Remulla, noting that his son is “presumed innocent until proven guilty.”
“Sec. Remulla, for the sake of your son, for my sake, and the thousands killed whose families are still grieving, make justice work again in this country,” the former senator said.
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