PRESIDENT Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. called as “baseless” for Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla to step down from his post following the arrest of his son in an anti-drug operation.
Marcos vouched for Remulla’s competence and integrity, saying the Justice chief is fit for the job despite the fact that his son, Juanito Jose Diaz Remulla III, was arrested Tuesday morning for possession of illegal drugs.
“I think the calls for him to resign have no basis. You call for somebody to resign if he’s not doing his job or that they have misbehaved in that job. He has not done [anything wrong]. He has done quite the contrary,” he said when asked to react to calls for Remulla’s resignation.
Marcos added that Remulla had already made a “very proper” stance not to intervene in his son’s case.
“He has taken the very proper position that he is recusing himself from any involvement in the case of his son. And I think that being the Secretary of the Department of Justice he’s very aware that he must allow the processes of the judiciary to work properly and that no one in the executive should interfere,” Marcos said.
The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) said criminal charges have been filed against Juanito Jose before the Las Piñas City Prosecutor’s Office on Thursday.
He is now facing charges for violation of Section 4 (importation of dangerous drugs), Article II of RA 9165 otherwise known as the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
Juanito Jose was arrested at around 11:10 a.m. on Oct. 11 in Barangay Talon Dos, Las Piñas City in a controlled delivery operation by the Ninoy Aquino International Airport-Inter-Agency Drug Interdiction Task Group and PDEA which resulted in the seizure of 893.91 grams of kush (high-grade marijuana).
The contraband was in a parcel shipped by a certain Benjamin Huffman, from the United States and allegedly consigned to the Justice chief’s son.
Remulla, in a handwritten statement released Thursday, vowed that he will neither “intervene in nor influence” his son’s predicament.
