Here’s what a former DOJ official thinks on swift resolution of the case of son of Boying Remulla
NOTHING STRANGE – A former justice official has spoken on swift resolution of the drug case of the son of Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla.
Last week, the younger Remulla was declared not guilty of illegal drug possession by a Las Piñas City court. It was on October 11 last year when he arrested after receiving a package containing 900 grams of kush or high-grade marijuana worth P1.3 million.
The court has acquitted him because “no clear evidence that [the] accused had freely, consciously, and with full knowledge possessed the alleged seized illegal drugs.” Another justification for exonerating the defendant was the violation of chain of custody requirements.
The rapid settlement of Juanito Jose Remulla III’s drug case and subsequent acquittal led to internet criticism, with people complaining that the legal system exclusively protects the wealthy or powerful.
JJ Justiniano, a former Justice Undersecretary, asserts that the continuous trial rule which was implemented in 2017 should result in a considerably quicker resolution of criminal matters in trial courts.
“There’s nothing strange about that. There’s that continuous trial rule. Maraming kaso ang nagkaroon ng shortcut,” he told ANC in an interview.
According to the updated guidelines for continuous trials in criminal cases, the dates of the trials for the prosecution and the accused must be scheduled continuously and within the time frames specified in the regular rules or special rules.
Only those pieces of evidence that are crucial to demonstrating that there is strong proof of guilt may be presented by the prosecution but according to Justiniano “there is really a rule on the continuing trial but the only problem is that they’re always often violated than applied.”
What can you say about this report? Share your thoughts or insights in the comment section below. For more news and the latest updates, feel free to visit Newspapers.ph more often as well as our Facebook page and YouTube channel.