Remulla in Geneva: Philippines looking at drug syndicates, not minor offenders

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has instructed the Philippines' law enforcement agencies to go after drug syndicates instead of street-level players, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said on the sidelines of the 52nd session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva.

“The drug policy is something that we really are tying to look at as a country,” Remulla said in a panel discussion on prison and justice sector reforms and human rights.

"President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has already instructed us, the Department of Justice, law enforcement and all those involved in drug policy to look at the syndicates behind the drug distribution rather than the users and minor offenders," he added.

Remulla made the remark in reply to questions on the administration’s current  policies against illegal drugs.

"It’s because it’s a belief that drugs have really caused havoc in the homes of Filipinos and what is causing all of this is the  source of the drugs," Remulla said.

"That’s why that is the shift of the policy of the Philippines — to look at the main sources of drugs so that we will not concentrate on street-level minor players, who many of them are actually victims," he added.

Other countries that took part in the panel discussion organized are Thailand and Indonesia.

In relaying the status of the Philippines’ justice and penal system, the DOJ chief said the government was “well aware” of the country’s plight including the overpopulation in the prisons and other detention facilities.

“The approach of our new administration is a whole-nation, all-government solution to every step of the criminal justice process,” Marcos said.

Among the “immediate fixes” the DOJ is imposing, according to Remulla, is the digitizing of the single prisoner record, the deployment of state lawyers to review their clients’ cases for early releases, and the humanitarian releases of elderly persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) and those suffering from debilitating illnesses.

He also said the Justice Department is set to issue a new case build-up rule as it also asked prosecutors to recommend reduced bail bonds for indigent Filipinos and review criminal cases filed before first-level courts for reasonable certainty of conviction.

Further, Remulla said the government eyes the establishment of state-of-the-art facilities for PDLs convicted of heinous crimes, transfer of the New Bilibid Prison to another area, regionalization of prison facilities and the implementation of a probation information system, “through which it can digitalize, monitor, safe keep, replicate, and transmit to the courts and law enforcement agencies, data and information about its supervision, rehabilitation, and monitoring of probationers and parolees”.

“There are a lot of challenges in our mission to reform our jail and prison system in the Philippines, and our unique situation drives us to find new ways and outside-the-box- solutions to hurdle them. We are not deterred by these challenges. Instead, they inspire us to do more, much more, for the benefit of our children and the future Filipinos,” he said. —NB, GMA Integrated News