THE dismissal of the drugs case of the son of Justice Secretary Crispin Remulla earned criticisms, mostly foul and unfair.
Why foul and unfair?
Well, for one, the criticisms focused on personality, not really on the factual.
Being the son of the Justice Secretary appeared to be the clincher, as if everything hinged on that fact alone.
As if it was the Justice Secretary himself who was indicted, and not his son.
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From the time Juanito Jose Remulla III was arrested, to the time he was charged before the city prosecutor’s office until the time the drugs case was filed before the RTC, the critics focused on the accused being the son of the Justice Secretary.
It was easy to forget how the case was handled, how the evidence was processed and how the procedure for valid arrest was implemented.
Just because he was the son of the Justice Secretary, Juanito Jose Remulla II was already prejudged as guilty.
And yes, he could only be acquitted because he happens to be the son of the Justice Secretary.
And because he was indeed acquitted, there could only be one reason for that – and that’s because he was the son of the high and mighty, the Secretary of Justice no less.
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Juanito Jose Remulla 3rd, 38, was charged by the Las Piñas City Regional Trial Court (RTC) 197 with possession of 900 grams of kush or high-grade marijuana leaves amounting to P1.3 million.
He was arrested at his home in Las Piñas City on October 11 during a “controlled delivery operation” carried out by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) and the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Inter-Agency Drug Interdiction Task Group.
In the order of acquittal, the Judge relied on the fact that “the prosecution failed to establish that the drugs presented in court as evidence are the exact same drugs seized from the accused and examined by the crime laboratory.”
Lawyers and law students know that the “chain of custody” in the handling of drugs is very vital.
Fail that and the drugs case will collapse.
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If there was really strong evidence against Juanito Jose, it would have been evident right at the start of the case-build up.
And those handling the surveillance and monitoring should know that he was the eldest son of the Justice Secretary so they should have exerted double time and triple effort in handling the case. I’m
They should have been more careful in the handling of the operation such that they would not missed the chain of custody in the handling of evidence.
By the way, what is chain of custody?
Chain of custody is defined as the duly recorded authorized movements and custody of seized drugs at each stage, from the time of seizure/confiscation to receipts in the forensic laboratory, to safekeeping and to presentation in court for destruction.
Because of the seriousness of the evidence, and the gravity of the penalty to be imposed, stringent measures are in place to ensure that the guilt of the accused is clearly established.
In acquittal order, the RTC Judge noted that it was the PDEA agents, instead of a commercial courier, who delivered the parcel to Juanito’s residence, which made the PDEA operation questionable.If that is really a regular controlled delivery in our legal opinion then the person who delivered that should be the postman, and he received it and opened it.”
And worse, the PDEA agents went ahead and arrested Juanito Jose despite the lack of procedure,” the Judge noted.
Simply said, the prosecution bungled.
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What did the usual critics of the administration harp about?
They did not question the merit or demerit of the acquittal. Instead, they harped on the quickness in resolving the case.
Of course, that’s one very glaring fact.
It was quick indeed because it took just a few months for the RTC Judge to clear Juanito Jose Remulla III of the drugs charge.
But the issue of quickness is an issue against the Judge, not against the accused.
Those closely watching the case should examine the court records of RTC Judge Ricardo Moldes III.
They could start by checking if Judge Moldes is really that quick to resolve drugs cases.
If his records would prove that he is really a quick resolver of drugs issue, then there is no problem.
But if there are other drugs cases, mostly slumbering drugs cases, and he was lagard in resolving all these drugs cases, but quick to resolve the Juanito Jose Remulla III case, then there’s definitely a problem here.
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The PNP is said to be undergoing an internal cleansing.
DILG Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr called on all police generals and colonels to file courtesy resignations so they would be subjected to administrative vetting.
Those found to have drug links will be booted out.
That is the general picture.
But the picture on the ground is different.
The team handling the vetting would play gods over the career, the lives, the honor and reputation of all police generals and colonels.
Because the team would take charge in the review and evaluation of records. The questions are – who are the members of the team, what are their qualifications, are they beyond reproach, what are the parameters in the review and evaluation, will the team observe due process or be a kangaroo court?
Because this is an administrative short-cut, the usual procedure is set aside.
Of course, going through the usual procedure is time-consuming and has proven to be ineffective in weeding out the scalawags.
It is common knowledge that the corrupt police officers are usually moneyed ones, who could afford pricey lawyers who could break or unbreak cases with impunity and make the act of filing cases against them like child play.
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I’m sure that prior to announcing his directive, SILG Abalos has discussed and consulted the matter with the PNP Chief. And he got his support. And that gave SILG Abalos the confidence to face the nation and announce his immediate directive.
The PNP Chief was the first to tender his courtesy resignation, and urged his colleagues to follow suit.
His subordinates have no other recourse. As a matter of course, they also have to file their courtesy resignation.
If they refuse to do so, then the presumption is they have skeletons to hide and their integrity would be questioned.
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This strategy is the exact opposite of PRRD’s directive to cleanse the PNP of scalawags.
While PRRDs strategy was to “kill” those suspected of having drug links, Abalos’ strategy was to resort to the filing of courtesy resignation.
And even after his term of 6 years, PRRD admitted that he failed to weed out the crooks in the police ranks.
Now, let us see if the Abalos’ solution is more effective.
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Many people are going crazy over the very high price of onions in the market.
As usual, they heaped the blame on the government, for failure to address the problem.
Accordingly, walay nahimo ang gobierno sa kamahal sa presyo sa bombay. But the problem is basic, everything hinges on the law of supply and demand.
If the supply is low, then the demand is high.
Conversely, if the supply is high, the demand is low.
Kon daghan og supply, walay problema sa konsumidor pero problema sa mga mag-uuma kay barato man ang presyo.
Kon gamay lang ang supply, moreklamo and konsumidor pero malipay sab ang mga mag-uuma kay taas man ang presyo sa ilang mga abot.
For practical reasons, kon kulang ang supply, ang immediate solution is to add more supply by importation.
As simple as that.
* * *
So when I get to be interviewed, and asked what should be done, I usually start my homily by pointing out the short term and the long term solutions.
The short term is to import because of lack of supply.
The long term is to produce our own supply.
How, by planting our own.
We can grow onions in the backyard, we can grow onions in pots and in discarded water containers. That way, we would be self sufficient.
And in that way, we would not go crazy even when the selling price in the market is 700 per kilo.
Gets?
