A MEMBER of the House of Representatives on Monday called out the “special treatment” given to the Justice secretary’s son who is facing drug charges, citing breaches in standard procedures. 

“This started with the almost two-day delay of publicizing the arrest of Mr. Juanito Jose D. Remulla III’s arrest in Las Piñas City,” ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. France L. Castro said in a statement. 

“His father who was in Geneva was even among the first to know about the arrest, what happened during the almost two-day delay?” she said. 

The suspect is the eldest son of Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin C. Remulla. 

Ms. Castro said the blurring of the younger Remulla’s mugshots that the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) released to the media is also considered special treatment. 

“(PDEA’s) common practice though is that they not only release the unaltered mugshots of drug suspects but they also parade them in front (of the) media as early as they can,” she said. 

The younger Remulla, who was nabbed for illegal drug possession, was also not subjected to a mandatory drug test when it should have been done within 24 hours following his arrest, Ms. Castro said. 

“(The mandatory drug test is needed) if there is reasonable ground to believe that he is under the influence, but with the almost two-day delay that was skipped by the PDEA and even up till now he has not been tested,” she said. 

The Justice chief did not immediately reply to a text message seeking comment. 

“If this kind of treatment is accorded to other suspects, then there would be no problem, but that is not the case more often than not, they are already paraded before being hauled to jail or worse, killed,” she said. 

“If these are not special treatments, then I don’t know what is,” she said. “This is a problem with Justice Secretary Remulla as he is still at his post as the justice secretary and did not resign or even take a leave of absence.” 

Calls for his resignation had gone viral on social media. 

President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. had said there is no basis for his appointed Justice chief to resign.  

Mr. Remulla, in a handwritten letter sent to reporters on Oct. 13, said he “will respect the justice system and I wish my son a path to redemption.” — Kyanna Angela Bulan

A PARTY-LIST representative for the agriculture sector filed a bill that aims to encourage students to pursue a degree in agriculture, forestry and fisheries through a scholarship program. 

House Bill (HB) 2419 or the proposed Agripreneurs Scholarship Program Act aims to establish an ‘Integrated Agripreneurs Scholarship Program in state-owned universities and colleges (SUCs). 

“Aside from investments to agriculture infrastructure and equipment, we must give equal importance to integrated efforts in investing in education and training among the youth so they acquire the latest agricultural principles and techniques,” AGRI Party-list Wilber T. Lee said in a statement on Monday.

“We want to encourage more students to take up agricultural interests and possibly earn degrees,” he said. 

Under the bill, the scholarship program would cover tuition; allowances for books, uniform, and dormitory; internship fees; licensure exam fees; and living allowance.

To qualify, a student must be a natural-born citizen, have an insufficient family income to fund a college education, be a senior high school graduating student and already passed an entrance examination in an SUC.

The bill also includes a ‘mandatory return service program’ wherein fresh scholar graduates will serve in public agricultural institutions accredited by the Department of Agriculture.  

“(The) mandatory return service program (seeks) to help improve the agricultural system of the country,” Mr. Lee said.

In July, Mr. Lee also filed HB 1295 or the proposed Free Tertiary Agricultural Education Act, which seeks to provide scholarship programs specifically for children of indigent farmers. 

“On my proposed HB 1295, we seek to provide scholarships for children of farmers and fisherfolk. We want them to be incentivized to continue farming,” Mr. Lee told BusinessWorld. “Even with the free tuition law, farmers and fisherfolk still find it hard to send their children to college because of other school-related expenses,” he said. 

“While HB 2419 is open to all students whose family income is not sufficient to support tertiary education,” he said. “This measure also seeks to provide cash grant programs to agripreneur scholars who wish to venture and establish their agribusinesses.” — Kyanna Angela Bulan