Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla highlighted the Department of Justice’s (DoJ) achievements during the House Appropriations Committee hearing on 5 September 2024, where he sought approval for the DoJ’s proposed P40.6-billion budget for FY 2025.

Remulla and DoJ officials showcased the department’s progress and reforms since the Marcos Administration began. Notable accomplishments include increasing the DoJ’s prosecution success rate from 88.65 percent in 2019 to 89.55 percent in 2023 and resolving 410,450 out of 414,714 cases, achieving a 98.97 percent case disposition rate.

Corollary, case backlogs were also reduced by 63.53 percent within five years, bringing the number of pending cases down to 4,264 in 2023 from 11,691 case backlogs in 2019.

The DoJ also showcased its 100 percent processing rate of applications received for victims’ compensation and witness protection in 2023

In addition, the DoJ has reported that it has trained 7,771 law enforcers and service providers to handle sensitive cases such as human trafficking, cybercrime and women and children in 2023.

“A justice system sustained by a robust budget is an investment to assure that the rule of law will be stable and self-sustaining totally free from unwanted external factors that may interfere with its functions,” Remulla emphasized.

On the application for working visas of refugees, Lanao del Sur 1st District Representative Zia Alonto Adiong commended the current administration because we are one of the few countries that accepted refugees, “Palestinians.”

The DoJ pledged to expedite the processing of refugees’ applications.

“I commend the Marcos administration and Secretary Remulla, this is really a call for humanity,” Rep. Adiong said.

Meanwhile, the floor deliberation for the DoJ FY 2025 budget is set for 16 September.