Group seeks withholding of SILG Remulla’s salary over ‘failure’ to arrest Bato

Frustrated over what it described as underachievement and “hollow media blitzes,” nearly 600 people have signed an online petition calling on the Philippine government to withhold the salary of Interior and Local Government Secretary Jonvic Remulla over his alleged failure to fulfill his responsibilities, particularly the failure to arrest Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa on Wednesday evening.

The petition, initiated by activist group Samahan ng Progresibong Kabataan (SPARK), stated that Remulla has consistently “failed to uphold his mandate” since joining the Cabinet in 2024.

“For his two years in office, his department has failed to arrest corrupt politicians and personalities, including Zaldy Co, Atong Ang, Harry Roque, and Gerald Bantag. His inaction, that eventually let Bato dela Rosa evade accountability, is the final straw in a long line of incompetence and dereliction of duty,” the group said.

SPARK asserted that instead of apprehending high-profile local and international fugitives, Remulla focused on detaining nearly 120,000 working-class and young Filipinos for vagrancy violations during the height of the oil price crisis in April.

“Remulla’s Safer Cities Initiative, much like many of his other operations, failed to portray him as a tough guy on crime, while wasting government resources on a near-sighted, anti-poor measure,” the group said.

The group also noted that Remulla receives an annual salary of P4.672 million, citing a report from the Commission on Audit.

“If employers can insist on ‘no work, no pay’ for their employees, why can’t we assert the same for public servants like Remulla? He is undeserving of taxpayers’ hard-earned money, especially as inflation spiked the past month,” the group added.

SPARK claimed that many of the petition signatories came from Cavite, Remulla’s home province, while others came from areas such as Tuguegarao City, Cagayan; Lianga, Surigao del Sur; and Maramag, Bukidnon.