Netizens react to acquittal of Remulla son in drug possession charge
Netizens expressed dismay and indignation after Juanito Jose Remulla III, son of Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla, was acquitted on Friday by a Las Piñas court in an illegal drug possession case.
The prosecution was found to have failed to produce proof that the younger Remulla knew he was receiving a package of illegal drugs, according to the Las Piñas Regional Trial Court Branch 197, and that anti-drug agents made mistakes in the chain of custody of the nearly 900 grams of what authorities claimed to be high-grade marijuana.
Remulla was apprehended on October 11 at Talon Dos, Las Piñas, during a controlled delivery operation by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Inter-Agency Drug Interdiction Task Group.
Following news of Remulla’s acquittal, netizens took to social media to express their anger and dismay over what they perceive as a miscarriage of justice. In particular, netizens suspect the unseen hand of the elder Remulla, who serves as Justice Secretary, influencing the decision of the Las Piñas court.
Many also lamented how the case demonstrates the unequal distribution of justice in the country. Citing the cases of poor victims of extra-judicial killings in the government’s bloody drug war and the unfair detention of former Senator Leila De Lima despite the lack of evidence, netizens denounced the preferential treatment of scions of the rich and politically connected.
