Getting ahead of the crisis

Facing one’s own demons was how Department of Justice (DOJ) Secretary Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla described his present situation following the arrest of his son on illegal drugs charges. Bedeviled is a more appropriate term for Sec. Remulla who is right in the middle of the government’s continuing campaign against the illegal drugs menace in our country. In fact, when his son was arrested, Remulla was still in Geneva, Switzerland as head of the country’s delegation to the 51st United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) session defending the Philippine government’s unrelenting campaign against illegal drugs.

As the Justice Secretary of the present government, Remulla carries the burden to stop undue interference to our country’s justice system over alleged thousands of cases of extra-judicial killings or EJKs. Remulla stood resolutely before the UNHRC that has been highly critical on the EJK-related war against illegal drugs pursued by former president Rodrigo Duterte. Remulla sought the understanding and the trust of this international body that the Philippine government “knows best” in facing its own domestic challenges.

This was the same very firm commitment he espoused during our Kapihan sa Manila Bay on Aug.24 when Remulla asserted that the Philippine government’s refusal to pressures by the International Criminal Court (ICC) to get jurisdiction over the reported EJK cases being resolved here.

In his address at the UNHRC, Remulla asked them to rally instead behind the reforms under the present administration of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. (PBBM, for short). From day one of the PBBM leadership, Remulla cited that these reforms seek the “transformational change” the DOJ has rolled out upon assumption into office in June this year.

This meant reforming the country’s entire criminal justice system, namely, the law enforcement, the prosecution service, the courts, the penal system, and, the public at large. The prosecution services under DOJ supervision handle all criminal cases of the Republic of the Philippines, including crimes related to the use, manufacture, sale, and trafficking of all illegal drugs. Also, the Bureau of Corrections and all the state-run penitentiaries, the biggest of which is at Muntinlupa City, all fall under the DOJ supervision.

As head of two of the five pillars of the criminal justice system, the Justice Secretary would invariably be rendered less effective by the illegal drugs case of his son.

Getting ahead of the looming crisis in his administration’s first 100 days in office, PBBM thus publicly declared last Friday there is “no basis” for him to ask for the resignation of Remulla. He already let go off from his Cabinet his erstwhile Executive Secretary and Press Secretary at the same time last Oct. 5.

Even before the calls could escalate for the Justice Secretary to step down from office, PBBM even commended Remulla for “recusing” self immediately. And, PBBM added, the Justice Secretary also vowed not to lift a finger to spare his 38-year old son from the full force of the laws.

Smart alecks immediately got into snickers that PBBM and Remulla, after all, were both on the same boat.

This was, of course, in reference during the May 2022 presidential elections when the BBM campaign headquarters consistently argued “the sins of the father are not the sins of the son” to counter-attack the rabid Marcos bashers. In Remulla’s case, the “sins of the son are the not the sins of the father.”

The Justice Secretary also belongs to a political clan once headed by their late father, former Cavite Governor Juanito Remulla. A brother Jonvic is currently the Governor of Cavite while their younger brother Gilbert was appointed by PBBM at the Pagcor Board. Incidentally, Remulla’s son Juanito Jose D. Remulla was named after their paternal grandfather. Formal charges were filed already before the two separate fiscals’ offices in the cities of Pasay and Las Piñas.

Under controlled delivery by joint operatives of anti-drug law enforcers, the suspicious package was opened and seized from the accused at his residence in Las Piñas City last Oct. 11. The accused is currently detained at the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), as the arresting unit in this joint operations. The others involved are the Bureau of Customs at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) and the Inter-Agency Drug Interdiction Task Group operatives at the Central Mail Exchange Center in Pasay City.

“Kush” or hybrid marijuana worth over P1 million imported from the United States were detected from the package addressed to the accused as consignee. Under the country’s laws, possession and importation of illegal drugs are non-bailable offenses and punishable by life imprisonment.

The Justice Secretary knows these laws by heart as a lawyer and former lawmaker in Congress off-and-on for twelve years, and was also as Governor of Cavite for one term. The 61-year old Justice Secretary, however, was only but human to admit he could not disown his son. Their family has already hired legal counsel to represent the younger Remulla.

However, it does not augur well for the younger Remulla for refusing to undergo drug test per advice of his lawyer. If he is really not into this addiction/habit, the best legal defense is getting negative result for illegal drug use.

Unfortunately, there were obvious cover-up attempts by unknown quarters and imposed a news blackout in a lame attempt to get ahead of another crisis. The PDEA that kept bombarding media with their press releases to their smallest seizures and arrests suddenly turned gun shy in this particular arrest. Purportedly, they were still verifying the identity of the suspect. Worse, the PDEA even continued with the cover-up literally when they pixelized the mug shots of the accused Remulla belatedly released to the public and media.

Be that as it may, there is no doubt in my mind that Justice Secretary Remulla would remain above and beyond reproach when it comes to upholding the law and pursuit of justice no matter who gets hurt.