Jesus Crispin Remulla

In this Philippine name, the middle name or maternal family name is Catibayan and the surname or paternal family name is Remulla.

Jesus Crispin "Boying" Catibayan Remulla (Tagalog pronunciation: [rɛˈmuljɐ] (b. March 31, 1961) is a Filipino lawyer, influencer, politician and cabinet secretary serving since 2022 as Secretary of Justice. He tenured as representative of Cavite's 7th district from 2019 until 2022, a position he held previously in 2010 through 2013, and served as Senior Deputy Majority Leader of the Lower House. He also served as provincial governor of Cavite from 2016 to 2019; and the representative of the province's 3rd district from 2004 to 2010; and the province's board member from 1992 to 1995. As a broadcaster, he hosts a radio program titled "Executive Session" over station DZRH. Remulla was an articulate opponent of ABS-CBN and was among the 70 congressmen who voted to reject the franchise renewal of ABS-CBN.

The Honourable Jesus Crispin C. Remulla
Official portrait, 2022
Secretary of Justice
Incumbent
Assumed office June 30, 2022
President	Bongbong Marcos
Preceded by	Menardo Guevarra
Senior Deputy Majority Leader of the Philippine House of Representatives
In office July 22, 2019 – June 30, 2022
Leader	Martin Romualdez
House Speaker	Feliciano Belmonte Jr.
Succeeded by	Sandro Marcos
Deputy House Speaker for Luzon
In office July 26, 2010 – June 30, 2013
Preceded by	Arnulfo Fuentebella
Succeeded by	Position reorganized
Member of the Philippine House of Representatives from Cavite
In office June 30, 2019 – June 30, 2022
Preceded by	Abraham Tolentino
Succeeded by	Vacant (post later held by Crispin Diego Remulla)
Constituency	7th District
In office June 30, 2010 – June 30, 2013
Preceded by	New district
Succeeded by	Abraham Tolentino
Constituency	7th District
In office June 30, 2004 – June 30, 2010
Preceded by	Vacant (Post last held by Napoleon Beratio)
Succeeded by	Erineo Maliksi
Constituency	3rd District
Governor of Cavite
In office June 30, 2016 – June 30, 2019
Vice Governor	Jolo Revilla
Preceded by	Jonvic Remulla
Succeeded by	Jonvic Remulla
Member of the Cavite Provincial Board
In office June 30, 1992 – June 30, 1995
Personal details
Born	Jesus Crispin Catibayan Remulla (1961-03-31) March 31, 1961 Bacoor, Cavite, Philippines
Political party	NUP (2021–present)
Other political affiliations	UNA (2014–2016) Nacionalista (2004–2014, 2016–2021) LDP (before 2004)
Parent	Juanito Remulla Sr.
Relatives	Jonvic Remulla (brother) Gilbert Remulla (brother)
Alma mater	University of the Philippines Diliman (AB, LL.B.)
Occupation	Politician, Broadcaster
Profession	Lawyer

He is member of the Remulla political dynasty of Cavite: His father, Juanito, was the provincial governor for fourteen years. His brother Gilbert, a former television reporter for ABS-CBN, was the representative of the 2nd district from 2001 to 2007. His other brother, Jonvic, is the current provincial governor. His son, Crispin Diego, succeeded him in a 2023 special election, while his other son, Francisco Gabriel, is a current member of the Cavite Provincial Board.

Education and legal career

Remulla completed his primary education at De La Salle University and his secondary education at Ateneo de Manila High School. He obtained his bachelor of arts degree in political science as pre-law from the University of the Philippines Diliman and graduated from the university's College of Law in 1987, where he was a fellow of the Upsilon Sigma Phi fraternity.

Remulla passed the bar exam and the Career Executive Service Board Examination in 1987. He began his law practice as a private practitioner, being a Senior Partner at the Remulla and Associates Law Office.

Political career

Cavite Provincial Board member (1992–1995)

Remulla entered politics when he successfully ran for a seat in the Cavite Provincial Board in 1992. He concurrently became a Consultant and Provincial Coordinator for the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) on the Carmona Landfill Project. However, he chose not to seek re-election in 1995 to return to legal practice, thus serving for only one term.

Assistant Secretary at the Office of the President (1998–2001) and Chief of Staff of Senator Loi Estrada (2002–2003)

Remulla became Assistant Secretary at the Office of the President during the term of President Joseph Estrada from 1998 to 2001.

From 2001 to 2002, he became the chief of staff of Estrada's wife, then Senator and former First Lady Luisa Pimentel-Estrada. He was also the spokesperson of Puwersa ng Masa.

Representative (2004–2013)

Remulla subsequently ran for Congress in a controversial 2004 election. During the campaign, he was upset by Cavite Governor Erineo "Ayong" Maliksi, who was a fellow member of Partido Magdalo, because of his support to Silang Mayor Ruben Madlansacay, who ran as independent for congressman. He won as congressman in the district more than two years after the death of Napoleon Beratio.

In 2007, he won for the second term as congressman against then Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Manny De Castro, also from Silang.

In 2009, he among with fellow representatives of Cavite – Joseph Emilio Abaya and Elpidio Barzaga, Jr. – authored the biggest congressional reapportionment in the history of the Philippines by passing Republic Act No. 9727, unofficially titled The Cavite Congressional Reapportionment Act of 2009, bringing the representatives of Cavite from three to seven.

In 2010, he defeated Tagaytay Councilor Laureano Mendoza to claim his third consecutive term and first under the newly created 7th district of Cavite. On July 26, 2010, he became one of six Deputy Speakers of the House of Representatives under the speakership of Feliciano "Sonny" Belmonte, Jr.

Tagaytay mayoral run (2013)

In 2013 elections, he ran for Mayor of Tagaytay under the Nacionalista Party but lost to Agnes Tolentino of the Liberal Party.

Governor of Cavite (2016–2019)

In 2016, instead of running for Congress against incumbent Abraham Tolentino, Remulla substituted his younger brother Jonvic to run as governor of Cavite, which he successfully won. During his term, the Cavite provincial government achieved ISO 9001:2015 recertification by the SOCOTEC Certification Philippines, Inc. (SCPI) for the Quality Management System covering 29 government offices.

Representative (2019–2023)

Portrait of Remulla during his stint as Cavite representative in the 18th Congress

Remulla served as governor of Cavite until 2019, when he successfully ran for congressman of the redistricted 7th district.

In 2020, Remulla played a major role in the ABS-CBN franchise renewal controversy along with Rodante Marcoleta and Mike Defensor. They accused ABS-CBN for tax avoidances (by using shell corporations such as Big Dipper), selling Philippine Depositary Receipts (PDRs) for foreigners (which is a possible violation of 1987 Constitution, prohibiting aliens for owning a mass media in the Philippines), using Channel 43 to continue digital broadcasts after the shutdown on May 5, using ABS-CBN facilities, and submitting an alleged tampered Torrens title. He enlisted the help of the National Bureau of Investigation to go after his critics on social media, accusing them of cyberbullying for criticizing him when he disrespected the Philippine national anthem. On July 10, 2020, Remulla, an ex-officio member of the Legislative Franchises, is one of the 70 representatives who voted "yes" to "kill" (deny) the twenty-five year franchise renewal of ABS-CBN, in favor of a report from Technical Working Group. After claiming continuous victory, Remulla joined with Defensor and Marcoleta for an online conversation via Zoom and streamed on Facebook as they discuss their plans to takeover the ABS-CBN Broadcasting Center in the future. This forum attracted controversy and their plans to take over the network's compound were slammed by Senate President Tito Sotto and pro-ABS-CBN advocate Christine Bersola-Babao. The former stated that the facilities of the network are constitutionally protected while the latter called the congressmen who initiated the forum as "evil".

Remulla was reelected to the Congress in 2022, unopposed. However, on May 23, 2022, Remulla accepted the offer to become the Secretary of Justice under the incoming administration of president-elect Bongbong Marcos, thus resigning his rights to the seat before his new term began in order to assume the position. He would be succeeded by his son, 7th district Board Member Crispin Diego Remulla, who was elected through a special election in 2023.

Secretary of Justice (2022–present)

Remulla took oath as Justice Secretary on July 1, 2022, before President Bongbong Marcos.

On July 13, 2022, Remulla issued Department Circular No. 027, which creates the Prosecution Integrity Board to look into misconducts of government prosecutors and recommend sanctions against them if necessary, as his first order as Justice Secretary. He also issued a circular that would give himself additional powers over the National Prosecution Service (NPS), a unit under the Department of Justice. On July 28, 2022, he also said that he doesn't think that "we need to spend the next 100 years running after the Marcoses" while discussing the functions of the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) that went after the ill-gotten wealth of the Marcos family. He added that there is no need to abolish the PCGG.

In November 2022, Remulla rejected the recommendations for the Philippines to adopt SOGIE bill, laws legalizing same-sex marriage, divorce and abortion, and many more citing it "not acceptable in the Philippines, being a pre-dominantly Catholic nation." He added that "they want the SOGIE Bill for same-sex marriage to have the same as in their countries. So, that's not acceptable for us. They really want a lot to be implemented here." The justice department defended Remulla's decision to immediately reject all the recommendations.

According to a report of the Commission on Audit, Remulla is the highest paid Cabinet member as of 2023, earning a net pay of ₱7.08 million that year.

Controversies

Alleged payment and red-tagging of Robredo supporters

On his radio show Executive Session on DZRH, Remulla questioned the large turnout of individuals during a political rally of presidential aspirant and Vice President Leni Robredo conducted in General Trias, Cavite. He alleged that the supporters of the candidate were paid ₱500 each to join the rally and that some individuals were simply ferried to the venue from other areas of the city to artificially create a large crowd. With uniformed volunteers and possibly local politicians simply leading or paying random passerby to join the rally. The grand rally in question is reported to have been the largest rally of the presidential candidate as of March 6, 2022, with at most 50,000 individuals joining the rally according to a local news report.

Remulla further stated that there were leftist student activists who joined the crowd. He alleged that these students were supposedly trained by the National Democratic Front, a leftist organization with ties to the Communist Party of the Philippines. He also alleged that Robredo had come to an agreement with the communists as well. Remulla was also joined by presidential candidate and provincemate Ping Lacson who, upon reading an article about Remulla's allegations, tweeted a warning about the dangers of a coalition government with the communists.

Robredo has since denied these claims and decried the red-tagging of Remulla's fellow "Caviteños" (term used to describe individuals from the province of Cavite), describing such red-tagging and accusations of vote-buying as an insult to Remulla's provincemates.

Remulla is a supporter of presidential candidate Bongbong Marcos. Together with the incumbent governor of Cavite Jonvic Remulla, Jesus Crispin has actively campaigned for Marcos.

Personal life

Remulla's children include his eldest son Juanito Jose III, Crispin Diego (incumbent Cavite–7th district representative), Francisco Gabriel (incumbent Cavite Provincial Board member), Lea, and Jacinta (Reyna ng Turismo Cavite pageant president). Among Remulla's grandchildren is Dia Maté, Lea's daughter who is a singer and a Miss Universe Philippines 2024 delegate.

On October 11, 2022, Juanito Jose Remulla III, then 38, was arrested in Las Piñas for a drug prohibition violation involving ₱1.3 million worth of kush weighing close to 900 grams (32 oz). However, he was later acquitted by Las Piñas Regional Trial Court Branch 197 on January 6, 2023.

Illness

In a press conference on February 26, 2024, Remulla admitted that complication affected his immune system due to his June 27, 2023 coronary artery bypass surgery of his 5 arteries. On May 30, 2024, Asec. Jose Dominic Clavano IV, the DOJ spokesperson, told reporters in a Zoom interview that Remulla was at home care recovery, citing that his immune system remains weak due to medications. Following a four-month absence since March 4, 2024, Remulla made his first public appearance during the signing of the DOJ–National Prosecution Service’s Revised Rules on Criminal Procedure on July 10.