MANILA (UCAN): The acquittal on January 6 of 38-year-old Juanito Remulla, the son of the secretary for justice, of drug charges by a trial court in Las Piñas City, Metro Manila, the Philippines has raised the ire of political opposition groups and rights advocates in the country.
“After an assiduous review of the evidence of the parties in this case, there is reasonable doubt that the accused received and possessed the parcel delivered to him with the knowledge, consciousness, and awareness that said parcel contained the alleged two bags of marijuana,” trial court judge, Ricardo Moldez, said in handing down the verdict.
Remulla was arrested on 11 October 2022 by agents of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency at his home. He was accused of possessing a package containing two bags of marijuana with a total weight of 893.91 grammes that was sent by a certain Benjamin Huffman from the United States.
Jesus Crispin Remulla, his father and Philippine justice secretary, said he would not intervene in the investigation and trial.
“We are angry although not entirely surprised by the court’s decision. The trial did not even last for a year compared to the usual court hearings of many drug suspects. It was tried very fast and of course, the decision was favourable to Remulla’s son,” Rose De Leon, a member of the leftwing AKBAYAN party, told the reporters.
De Leon contrasted Remulla’s dismissal to the detention of former lawmaker, Leila De Lima, who after five years, is still behind bars on drug charges.
“They jailed Senator De Lima based on [the] testimonies of convicted criminals who had later recanted. Here is a person who was caught in possession of illegal drugs, but just because of his ties [to] government, was allowed to go scot-free. Where is justice in the Philippines?” De Leon asked.
The judge said, “The testimonies of the witnesses of the prosecution failed to prove that the accused had animus possidendi [intent to possess] the illegal drugs. Absence of which, a conviction could not arise.” Moldez added, “Unfortunately, apart from showing that the package or parcel was handed to the accused, the prosecution did not present other evidence to show that the former knew that it contained marijuana. The prosecution failed to show that accused, by receiving the parcel, knew that he was also possessing illegal drugs.”
Opposition groups called for the resignation of the elder Remulla saying that he lacked credibility to run the Philippine justice system.
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Philippine law experts admitted that indeed the time between the matter being brought to court and the decision being rendered was “unusually fast” compared to a regular case pending in Philippine courts.
“It takes five to seven years before a trial court renders a decision in a drug case. So, based on the time the decision was reached, it was indeed faster than the rest,” Philippine law professor, Gerald Diaz, observed.
