Photo by Angie de Silva/Rappler
Photo by Angie de Silva/Rappler
It comes as no surprise that Marcos Jr. has decided to include Boying Remulla in his Cabinet: after all, Remulla has functioned as the de facto stooge of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict in Congress — rabidly red-tagging Lumad schools and even the campaign sorties of Vice President Leni Robredo — along with his role in the non-renewal of the franchise of ABS-CBN.
Nonetheless, given Remulla’s atrocious track record of shameless apologia for red-tagging, human rights violations, and attacks on press freedom, we express grave concern over his impending appointment as Department of Justice (DOJ) secretary, especially when his appointment also means that he will get to sit as a member the Anti-Terrorism Council.
Remulla’s appointment as DOJ secretary also raises the following urgent questions. What will happen now to the DOJ’s investigations in its drug war review panel? How will a rabid red-tagger like Remulla handle the cases of political killings, enforced disappearances, and torture of activists and human rights defenders under the DOJ’s Administrative Order No. 35 task force?
Nevertheless, one thing is very much clear to us: we can only expect more injustice and even more impunity under the presumptive Marcos-Duterte administration with Remulla at the helm of the DOJ — and we call on all freedom-loving Filipinos to strong denounce and reject Remulla’s possible appointment as DOJ secretary.
Cristina Palabay
Karapatan Secretary General