Remulla names LRA, BI, BuCor as agencies that need help

Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla on Monday said he would go after alleged syndicates in the Land Registration Authority, the Bureau of Immigration, and the Bureau of Corrections.

During his first flag-raising ceremony as Justice Secretary, Remulla named the three agencies as agencies that may need help from the DOJ.

“Unahin na natin ang LRA na kahapon nung kine-kwento sa akin ng malapit na kaibigan na law practitioner, i-kwinento nya sakin ang aktibidad ng sindikato na naroroon na nananaig sa sistema ng LRA, sindikato na may tao sa halos lahat ng sangay ng gobyerno,” Remulla said.

(We will start with the LRA that my friend, who is a law practitioner, told me about. He told me of the syndicate activities in the LRA’s system. A syndicate that has a man in almost all branches of government.)

Meanwhile, he said there were supposed extortion, human trafficking, and protection syndicates within the Bureau of Immigration.

“And the sad thing about the Bureau of Immigration is that they exercise sovereign powers. It is the face of the country and we Filipinos have a duty to protect our country,” he said.

Meanwhile, he said activities that negatively affect society allegedly continued within BuCor.

Remlla later clarified that he was not talking about the agencies as a whole.

“Ang sinasabi ko po dito hindi ko nilalahat ang lahat ah, sa LRA sasabihin ko po 95% ng tao maayos baka 99% pa, ngunit ‘yung isang prosyento na hindi nagaayos ay nababahiran ang lahat, talagang mabigat po ang trabaho,” he said.

(I’m not talking about all of the personnel. For the LRA, I’ll say about 95% or maybe even 99% of the personnel are good. But there is a 1% that is not.)

According to Remulla, then President-elect Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. approached him for the position three days after the 2022 elections.

“Maybe he chose me because I can get things done. That is the ultimate reason probably why I was chosen by the President. And that I accept challenges, I have accepted all the challenges given me in my whole political life and probably my whole professional life,” he said. — DVM, GMA News