DEPARTMENT of Justice (DOJ) secretary, Jesus Crispin Remulla, easily breezed thru his confirmation hearing at the powerful Commission on Appointments (CA) of Congress last September 14, 2022, along with Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) secretary, Benjamin ‘Benhur’ Abalos Jr.
Remulla, who has been re-elected as Cavite’s 7th district representative during the May 9, 2022 elections, had decided to give up his congressional seat after being named as Justice Secretary right after the victory of Pres. Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr. in the same elections.
Remulla replaces Secretary Menardo Guevarra who has been name by PBBM as Solicitor General (OSG), replacing Jose Calida who is now the chair of the Commission on Audit (COA).
Upon assuming the post as DOJ secretary, Remulla said his guiding policy would be, “to give justice to every man, woman and child no matter the circumstance of birth, no matter the economic standing.”
Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, in his sponsorship speech for Remulla’s confirmation, paid lavish praise on his qualifications and fitness to take charge of the DOJ.
“I am certain that our appointee, Atty. Jesus Crispin Remulla, who served as Member of the House of Representatives for four Congresses, also as its Senior Deputy Majority Leader and Deputy Speaker, can effortlessly secure the nod of the CA,” Estrada said.
He added that Remulla’s sworn policy fits exactly to the DOJ’s own mission of ‘Justitiae Pax Opus’ or “Justice for All.”
As a lawyer, public servant and media personality, Estrada noted that Remulla was in the ‘Top 20’ during the 1987 bar examinations, placing 17th. He also studied at De La Salle University, Ateneo de Manila and the University of the Philippines before the Estrada administration in 1998 as Assistant Secretary of the Presidential Management Staff until Pres. Joseph Estrada’s illegal removal by an elite conspiracy in 2001.
After loyally serving as Estrada’s spokesperson during his incarceration and trial for plunder, Remulla was then tapped by Estrada’s wife, Sen. Loi Estrada to be her Senate chief of staff.
“It is said that his experience in the Senate prepared him for his bigger responsibilities as an elected legislator later on,” Jinggoy noted.
Tansingco is new BI commissioner
Meanwhile, Malacañan, last September 12, 2022, released the appointment of Norman Garcera Tansingco, as the new commissioner of the Bureau of Immigration (BI), an agency under the DOJ.
A CPA-lawyer, Tansingco is considered a “veteran” at the BI, having served as chief of staff to then BI chief, Marcelino Libanan under the Macapagal-Arroyo administration.
Tansingco replaces Rogelio Gevero Jr., who was earlier named by Remulla as BI officer-in-charge.
Tansingco would have his hands full in meeting the expectations of Remulla who observed that the BI is “full of syndicates” — “extortion syndicates,” “human trafficking syndicates” and, “protection syndicates.”