Justice Secretary Remulla secures Commission on Appointments nod
MANILA, Philippines — The congressional Commission on Appointments on Wednesday afternoon confirmed the appointment of Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla.
The influential bicameral panel has the constitutional duty to screen and either approve or disapprove the appointments of heads of government departments, diplomats and high-ranking military officials.
"We believe that the DOJ, through the leadership of Secretary Remulla will give justice to every man, woman and child, no matter what the circumstance of birth, no matter the economic standing,” Sen. Francis Tolentino, who moved for the recommendation of Remulla’s appointment, said.
Remulla earlier in the day secured the nod of the CA Committee on Justice and the Judicial and Bar Council, which recommended his confirmation to the CA plenary.
During the panel deliberations, Tolentino also asked Remulla on his thoughts on death penalty. Tolentino, a lawyer, is among the lawmakers backing the reimposition of capital punishment. Remulla only said the topic should go through proper debate.
Sen. Risa Hontiveros also grilled Remulla on issues ranging from the Bureau of Immigrations’ Visa Upon Arrival and the “pastillas” scheme to the Philippine government’s stand on the International Criminal Court’s investigation into the “war on drugs.”
Remulla again said the Philippines, through Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra, sent information to the ICC as a matter of comity and not of compliance.
He also lamented the lack of witnesses and said he hopes that the Witness Protection Program law in the country will be amended to cover law enforcement officials who may wish to testify against their colleagues.
ICC jurisdiction
But he reiterated that the Philippines is no longer under the jurisdiction of the ICC, even though Philippine jurisprudence has acknowledged in Pangilinan v. Cayetano that "[w]ithdrawal from the Rome Statute does not affect the liabilities of individuals charged before the [ICC] for acts committed up to this date."
Asked by Hontiveros on the probe, Remulla said: "In theory, yun ang pwedeng paniwalaan pero ang reality pag subukan pumasok, sino ho kakausapin nila? Reality ay wala na silang jurisdiction dito."
(In theory, they can believe that. But the reality is, if they try to come in, who will talk to them? The reality is they have no jurisdiction here.)
Hontiveros said she believes otherwise.
Prior to accepting his post as justice secretary, Remulla was re-elected as representative of the 7th District of Cavite, where he ran unopposed.
Cavite was the site of massive rallies for the UniTeam tandem of Marcos and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, including one at the General Trial Sports Complex, where tens of thousands of Caviteños greeted Marcos.
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