Marcos rejects resignation calls for Philippine Justice Secretary

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has rejected calls for the country's Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla to step down following the arrest of his son in an anti-drug operation.

"I think the calls for him to resign have no basis. You call for somebody to resign if he’s not doing his job or that they have misbehaved in that job. He has not done [anything wrong]. He has done quite the contrary," Marcos said.

Remulla's son Juanito Jose Diaz Remulla III was arrested on Tuesday in Las Piñas City for possession of illegal drugs. According to reports, the contraband was in a parcel shipped by a certain Benjamin Huffman, from the United States and allegedly consigned to the Justice chief's son.

The Justice Secretary had issued a handwritten statement vowing that he will neither "intervene in nor influence" his son's predicament.

He also thanked the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) for doing its job "without fear or favour".

Remulla III is now facing charges for violation of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.