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DOJ chief Remulla's son walks free after acquittal in drug possession case

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Mike Navallo, ABS-CBN News 

<figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=2406051" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div><p>MANILA (3rd UPDATE) — The son of Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla, Juanito Jose Remulla III, walked free on Friday after a Las Piñas City court acquitted him of illegal drug possession. </p><p>In a verdict handed down Friday, Las Piñas City Regional Trial Court Branch 197 Judge Ricardo Moldez II found Remulla III not guilty of violating section 11 of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act (RA 9165) &quot;on the ground of reasonable doubt.&quot;</p><p>The younger Remulla was arrested on Oct. 11 last year after receiving a package containing 900 grams of kush or high-grade marijuana worth P1.3 million, based on a controlled delivery conducted by agents of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and the NAIA Inter-Agency Drug Interdiction Task Group.</p><p>The package was received from the United States on Sept. 27.</p><p>Remulla III pleaded not guilty on Nov. 4.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=2406215" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div><p>In acquitting the younger Remulla, the court said there was “no clear evidence that [the] accused had freely, consciously, and with full knowledge possessed the alleged seized illegal drugs.”</p><p>It cited testimonies of 2 agents who both testified that Remulla III said he was not expecting any delivery and that he did not know a certain “Benjamin Huffman” who was allegedly the shipper of the parcel.</p><p>“From the foregoing prior and contemporaneous statements and acts of the accused, it can be reasonably concluded that animus possidendi or the intent to possess the parcel and its contents on his part is wanting. His reactions were consistent with a person who was not expecting a parcel or a package from a certain Benjamin Huffman or from any other person for the matter,” the court said.</p><p>“They are likewise consistent with a person who is oblivious to the parcel’s contents. Had it been otherwise, he could have acted differently by receiving the package outright,” it added.</p><p>The court ruled the prosecution only showed the younger Remulla received the package but did not present evidence to show he knew the parcel contained marijuana.</p><p>“[T]he act of receiving the package during a controlled delivery is insufficient to establish criminal liability. Other circumstances must be present to show that the recipient was really aware of its contents,” it explained.</p><div></div><div class="media-content"><div class="slider-for"><div><img src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/news/01/06/20230106-remulla1.jpg"/></div><div><img src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/news/01/06/20230106-remulla2.jpg"/></div><div><img src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/news/01/06/20230106-remulla3.jpg"/></div><div><img src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/news/01/06/20230106-remulla4.jpg"/></div><div><img src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/news/01/06/20230106-remulla5.jpg"/></div><div><img src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/news/01/06/20230106-remulla6.jpg"/></div><div><img src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/news/01/06/20230106-remulla7.jpg"/></div><div><img src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/news/01/06/20230106-remulla8.jpg"/></div></div><div class="media-content slider-desc"><div class="item-desc"><p>Las Piñas court acquits Justice chief’s son of drug possession</p></div><div class="item-desc"><p>Las Piñas court acquits Justice chief’s son of drug possession</p></div><div class="item-desc"><p>Las Piñas court acquits Justice chief’s son of drug possession</p></div><div class="item-desc"><p>Las Piñas court acquits Justice chief’s son of drug possession</p></div><div class="item-desc"><p>Las Piñas court acquits Justice chief’s son of drug possession</p></div><div class="item-desc"><p>Las Piñas court acquits Justice chief’s son of drug possession</p></div><div class="item-desc"><p>Las Piñas court acquits Justice chief’s son of drug possession</p></div><div class="item-desc"><p>Las Piñas court acquits Justice chief’s son of drug possession</p></div></div></div><p>The court also raised a second ground for acquitting Remulla III — the violation of chain of custody requirements which led the court to have “reservations” on the integrity and evidentiary value of the dangerous drugs allegedly seized.”</p><p>In drug cases, the court said the narcotics itself is the corpus delicti or the body of the crime and there is a need to document how the drug was stored to ensure the substance illegally possessed is the same substance offered in court as evidence.</p><p>To meet this requirement, there should be testimony “about every link in the chain, from the moment the item was picked up to the time it is offered into evidence” which would include precautions taken to ensure the condition of the drug is the same and nobody else outside the chain of custody got hold of it.</p><p>This rule is important to avoid evidence tampering or planting of evidence.</p><p>The court said the chain of custody requirement should be observed during both the detection and actual delivery stages of a controlled delivery operation.</p><p>In the younger Remulla&#x27;s case, the court noted there was a marking on the parcel “CAIDTF 9/28 Kush” which indicated it was written on Sept. 28, the day after it was intercepted, but the Customs examiner could not explain who wrote it and why it was there, merely insisting he was informed about it only on Oct. 4.</p><p>The court said this puts into question the “identity, integrity and evidentiary value” of the seized drugs.</p><p>The court also noted the Customs examiner did not make any markings on the drugs on Oct. 4 but only on Oct. 10 when he turned over the drugs to PDEA.</p><p>The court made the same observation for the time the drugs were in possession of PDEA. The evidence custodian, it said, was not presented in court.</p><p>“The prosecution must establish that the drugs presented in court as evidence are the exact same drugs seized from the accused and examined by the crime laboratory. This is not merely a matter of procedural formalities, but it is a matter rooted in the very core of the crime’s commission,” it said.</p><p>“When a court cannot be assured that the drugs presented as evidence are exactly what the prosecution purports them to be, a conviction will not be forthcoming,” it said.</p><p>The court warned law enforcers the presumption of regularity in the performance of their duties cannot prevail over the constitutional right of the accused to be presumed innocent and cannot, by itself, constitute proof beyond reasonable doubt, especially if there are unexplained lapses.</p><p>The younger Remulla faces separate complaints for the importation of illegal drugs and violation of the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act, which are still pending before the Pasay City Prosecutor’s Office. No other court has issued a warrant of arrest against him.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/11/09/22/remulla-son-transferred-to-las-pias-jail-over-drug-charges">DOJ chief&#x27;s son transferred to Las Piñas City Jail over drug charges: official</a></li></ul>

A Las Pinas City court has acquitted of an illegal drug possession charge the son of Philippine Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla.

DOJ chief Remulla's son walks free after acquittal in drug possession case

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DOJ chief Remulla's son walks free after acquittal in drug possession case

Mike Navallo,

ABS-CBN News

Published Jan 06, 2023 10:01 AM PHT

|

Updated Jan 06, 2023 04:28 PM PHT

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Boying Remulla

Juanito Jose Remulla III

Remulla

drugs

drug possession

war on drugs

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