A MEMBER of the House of Representatives on Monday called out the “special treatment” given to the Justice secretary’s son who is facing drug charges, citing breaches in standard procedures.
“This started with the almost two-day delay of publicizing the arrest of Mr. Juanito Jose D. Remulla III’s arrest in Las Piñas City,” ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. France L. Castro said in a statement.
“His father who was in Geneva was even among the first to know about the arrest, what happened during the almost two-day delay?” she said.
The suspect is the eldest son of Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin C. Remulla.
Ms. Castro said the blurring of the younger Remulla’s mugshots that the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) released to the media is also considered special treatment.
“(PDEA’s) common practice though is that they not only release the unaltered mugshots of drug suspects but they also parade them in front (of the) media as early as they can,” she said.
The younger Remulla, who was nabbed for illegal drug possession, was also not subjected to a mandatory drug test when it should have been done within 24 hours following his arrest, Ms. Castro said.
“(The mandatory drug test is needed) if there is reasonable ground to believe that he is under the influence, but with the almost two-day delay that was skipped by the PDEA and even up till now he has not been tested,” she said.
The Justice chief did not immediately reply to a text message seeking comment.
“If this kind of treatment is accorded to other suspects, then there would be no problem, but that is not the case more often than not, they are already paraded before being hauled to jail or worse, killed,” she said.
“If these are not special treatments, then I don’t know what is,” she said. “This is a problem with Justice Secretary Remulla as he is still at his post as the justice secretary and did not resign or even take a leave of absence.”
Calls for his resignation had gone viral on social media.
President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. had said there is no basis for his appointed Justice chief to resign.
Mr. Remulla, in a handwritten letter sent to reporters on Oct. 13, said he “will respect the justice system and I wish my son a path to redemption.” — Kyanna Angela Bulan