Many insist that De Lemos should spare Remulla unnecessary embarrassment and resign his post
Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla continues to be one of the most hard-working members of the Cabinet of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
Since he became Justice Secretary, Remulla had always been a hands-on manager of the Department of Justice.
Early on, Remulla directed the national prosecution service to expedite the resolution of pending cases.
Through the diligent efforts of DOJ Undersecretaries Jesse Andres, Nicholas Ty, Raul Vasquez, Deo Marco, Geronimo Sy and Brigido Dulay, the number of pending cases had dwindled.
Remulla also ordered the prosecution only of those criminal cases where the chances of securing a conviction are better than average.
For Remulla, prosecuting a criminal case on the basis of weak evidence is unjust, and wastes government resources and the valuable time of the prosecutors.
Next, Remulla ordered the total overhaul of the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor), which had fallen to disrepute because past prisons officials had been reportedly involved in many anomalies.
Under the administration of President Noynoy Aquino, the national penitentiary got notorious due to news reports about the special treatment then Justice Secretary Leila de Lima allowed for drug lords detained there, supposedly in exchange for large sums of money.
Charges were filed against de Lima under Aquino’s successor, President Rodrigo Duterte.
By that time, de Lima was already a senator, but she spent her term detained at Camp Crame.
Her continuing detention has been sustained by the Supreme Court.
Last year, de Lima ran for a second term in the Senate but she lost miserably.
Another controversy involving the national penitentiary took place in 2019 when then Justice Secretary, now Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra, and then BuCor chief Nicanor Faeldon announced that convicted ex-Calauan, Laguna Mayor Antonio Sanchez will be released from prison on account of his good behavior.
Sanchez was sentenced to multiple prison terms for the 1993 rape and murder of Eileen Sarmenta and the murder of Allan Gomez, both students of the University of the Philippines in Los Baños.
Harriet Demetriou, the trial court judge who sentenced Sanchez, described the crimes as the product of “a plot seemingly hatched in hell.”
As expected, intense public outrage greeted the announcement of Sanchez’ release.
This prompted Guevarra and Faeldon to reconsider the ex-mayor’s anticipated release.
In the end, Sanchez was never released, and he died in prison in March 2021 at the age of 74.
Immediately after Remulla assumed office, he appointed retired Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief of Staff Gregorio Catapang Jr. as the new BuCor chief.
Remulla instructed Catapang to clean up the bureau and to institute badly overdue reforms.
As instructed, Catapang fixed up the bureau, got rid of the patronage system corrupting it, and introduced changes, including the overdue overhaul of the food cooking and storage facilities at the national penitentiary.
Past administrations had always overlooked this problem of food facilities.
Remulla also began earnest efforts to declog the national penitentiary by starting plans to construct more prison facilities elsewhere.
Just recently, Remulla declared that newly-convicted persons sentenced to light prison terms will no longer be detained at the national penitentiary, and will be confined instead at regional or provincial jails.
Remulla pointed out the new convicts have to be kept away from the “violent culture” that has been cultivated in the national penitentiary these past decades.
That way, Remulla said, the new convicts have a better chance at mending their ways while imprisoned, and may still rejoin Philippine society as reformed persons.
Likewise, Remulla streamlined the bureaucracy in the Land Registration Authority.
After appointing lawyer Gerardo Sirios as the new LRA administrator, Remulla instructed the latter to improve the system of tracking land titles and deeds.
Today, transacting business with the LRA is no longer as cumbersome as before.
About two months ago, the pressure of daily work as Justice Secretary forced Remulla to take a medical leave for preventive heart surgery.
Fortunately, the surgery was successful and, within weeks, Remulla was back at work.
Unfortunately, when Remulla was on medical leave, the National Bureau of Investigation, an agency under the DOJ, found itself in the news.
It was reported that last June 30, the NBI held a conference at the Manila Diamond Hotel, where the entertainment consisted of a dance number performed by several nearly naked women.
Although NBI Director Medardo De Lemos has publicly apologized for the incident and promised an investigation, many citizens are demanding his immediate resignation.
De Lemos was supposed to have retired months ago, but his stay as NBI chief was extended.
Because the incident involving the controversial dance number has seriously tarnished the image of the NBI and, by extension, the DOJ, Remulla has reason to be upset about the matter.
Many insist that De Lemos should spare Remulla unnecessary embarrassment and resign his post.