Remulla returns from wellness leave next week amid high-profile DOJ probes
MANILA, Philippines — Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said he will officially return to work next week after undergoing a heart bypass surgery, as the department leads an investigation into onion smuggling and into a National Bureau of Investigation detainee slipping out of the facility—on top of other pending probes.
Remulla went on a ten-day wellness leave on June 26 and faced members of the media on Thursday for a press conference.
The justice secretary said he underwent a heart bypass procedure on June 27, which he said was elective surgery. Remulla said he stayed at the hospital for five days, and went home on the sixth day, adding that he is undergoing physical rehabilitation sessions.
He added that he is “meeting the leadership on Monday morning after the flag ceremony,” referring to department undersecretaries and assistant secretaries. This is to discuss directions and orders, he said.
But Remulla admitted that he will still be “playing it by the ear” as he has not fully recovered physically. The justice secretary however quashed talk of leaving the Cabinet because of his condition.
“I serve at the pleasure of the President (Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.) and I will continue to discharge my functions as long as the president believes in my capability to lead the department,” Remulla added.
Ongoing investigations
The justice secretary is returning to work a week after Marcos ordered the department and the NBI to initiate a probe into “hoarding, smuggling, price fixing of agricultural commodities.”
Marcos, concurrently agriculture secretary, said the order stemmed from the House of Representatives hearings conducted by Rep. Stella Quimbo (Marikina).
Remulla said that the department has, an institution, earlier conducted studies into smuggling of agricultural products. The NBI has also conducted an investigation, he said, adding that they “have an idea how it happens.”
With Marcos’ directive, the DOJ secretary said they will be looking “at minutes of congressional hearings and our notes to put together a good case of economic sabotage against those who insist on creating a cartel within the country.”
Jad Dera slips in and out of NBI detention
Meanwhile, Remulla stressed that DOJ will conduct an investigation within the department and NBI officials regarding instances of Jose Adrian “Jad” Dera leaving the NBI facility where he is detained for a drug case.
Dera was intercepted late last month as he was heading back to NBI headquarters in Manila. He was found to be carrying firearms, cash and other contraband and security camera footage showed him eating at a buffet restaurant with his alleged girlfriend in Makati while he was out.
The Senate held a hearing on the issue on Wednesday.
On top of these, law enforcers are still on the hunt for former corrections chief Gerald Bantag and his deputy Ricardo Zulueta as the Muntinlupa court handling the murder case against them over the death of Jun Villamor, inmate and middleman in the Percy Lapid slay case, archived the trial pending their arrest.
Complaints are also expected to be filed after police raided buildings in a Philippine offshore gaming operator hub in Las Piñas City where thousands of Filipino and foreigners suspected to be trafficking victims were rescued.
Meanwhile, ten accused gunmen in the assassination of Negros Oriental Gov. Roel Degamo earlier this week affirmed their recantation of their statements tagging suspended Rep. Arnolfo Teves as the mastermind behind the attack.
Teves meanwhile has yet to return to the country, amid ongoing preliminary investigation into the string of criminal complaints he is facing over the so-called Pamplona massacre. — with reports from The STAR/Neil Jayson Servallos
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