The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) said on Friday, Jan. 6, that it respects the decision of the Las Piñas court that acquitted the son of Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla of illegal drug charges.

In a statement, PDEA said the Las Piñas City Regional Trial Court Branch 197 has seen both sides of the case filed against Juanito Juan Remulla III and is in the best position to rule over the merits.

In its 34-page decision after almost three months of trial, the court said the prosecution failed to establish the guilt of Remulla and also noted procedural lapses in the handling of the pieces of evidence.

It added that there was no clear evidence that Remulla had “freely, consciously, and with full knowledge possessed the alleged seized illegal drugs.”

“There is reasonable doubt that the accused received and possessed the parcel delivered to him with the knowledge, consciousness, and awareness that said parcel contained marijuana,” it said.

Further, the court said that the acceptance of a package during a controlled delivery is not enough to show that the recipient is engaged in unlawful activity.

“Unfortunately, apart from showing that the package or parcel was handed to the accused, the prosecution did not present other evidence to show that the former knew that it contained marijuana,” it said.

Remulla was arrested in a controlled delivery operation of agents of the Bureau of Customs and the PDEA for over a kilo of marijuana in Las Piñas on Oct. 11 last year.

PDEA said it will study the court's decision.

"With utmost respect to the Court’s decision, PDEA will carefully study the reasons behind the exoneration, and exercise due diligence in the conduct of similar operations in the future," the statement read.

In a GMA News report, the court stated that based on the statement from a Customs examiner, it could be inferred that the parcel had possession of the parcel as early as Sept. 28, 2022 with the parcel then turned over to the customs examiner on Oct. 4.

“As to the effect, however, it has put into question the identity, integrity, and evidentiary value of the purportedly seized dangerous drugs. This is especially true when there is nothing in the records that would show how the parcel... was handled, stored, and preserved from the time it was discovered on Sep. 28,” it said.

While law enforcers enjoy the presumption of regularity in the performance of their duties, the court added this cannot prevail over the constitutional right of the accused.

“This is especially true when there are lapses, such as those present in this case. When there are glaring lapses or irregularities on the part of the law enforcers, the presumption of regularity usually accorded to the latter is effectively destroyed or immediately negated,” it said.

Atty. Pearlito Campanilla, one of Juanito's counsels, said the court acquitted his client due to issues with the chain of custody of the evidence.

"Doon po mismo sa mga affidavit of arrest at sa testimony mismo ng mga PDEA agent, inanim nila na nung dumating 'yung parcel sa bahay ni Mr. Remulla, sinabi niya hindi ko ine-expect 'yan (In his affidavit of arrest and the testimony of the PDEA agents, they admitted that Mr. Remulla was not expecting the parcel when it arrived at his house),’’ Campanilla explained.

Campanilla added that Remulla said that he did not know the shipper Benjamin Hopman when asked if he knew him.

The legal counsel noted that his client also provided an ID with the name Juanito Jose Remulla III when receiving the package, while the shipping form contained the name Jose Juanito Remulla.

He claimed that Juanito, who was unaware of the contents of the parcel, was made to hold the box before he was arrested.

Campanilla also pointed out that there was no delivery boy and that the package was handed to Juanito by the PDEA agent.

The lawyer shrugged off possible speculations that Juanito was cleared because he is the Justice secretary's son, saying “this is not a court of public opinion.” (Chito A. Chavez)