Ombudsman Boying Remulla Speaks on Health Challenges amid Duties then as Justice Secretary
Ombudsman Boying Remulla revealed that he was diagnosed with leukemia after a heart surgery and has received multiple treatments.
In a rare occasion, two (2) members of the president’s Cabinet are actually brothers — former Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla and Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Sec. Jonvic Remulla. While they were in the same team for a few years under the Marcos Jr. administration, the elder Remulla was recently appointed to a new position.
The former Justice Secretary is now the country’s chief graft-buster. Earlier this month, Pres. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. appointed Ombudsman Boying Remulla. Following his appointment to a new office, Remulla vowed that he will speed up the legal process with regards to the flood control issue in the country.
The Ombudsman also claimed that he will revisit the complaints filed against Vice Pres. Sara Duterte. His remarks came even before Akbayana and Tindig Pilipinas filed a complaint urging the Office of the Ombudsman to reopen the complaints over the alleged misuse of the confidential funds of the Vice President.
Undeniably, the appointment of Remulla to the Office of the Ombudsman is controversial. Presidential sister and Senator Imee Marcos even aired a question for her brother, Pres. Bongbong Marcos, if he is really serious about appointing the former Justice Secretary.
Recently, Ombudsman Boying Remulla made revelations about his health condition when he was the secretary of the Department of Justice. Based on a report on GMA News, he revealed his leukemia diagnosis after his quintuple bypass heart surgery in 2023.
According to Remulla, it was in June 2023 when he underwent a heart surgery to address a cardiovascular blockage. He told TV5 that it was when he was recovering that he was diagnosed with leukemia.
“Nung 2023, na-diagnose ako sa puso na kailangan ko ng bypass, so nagpa-opera ako, nagkaroon ako ng quintuple bypass, open heart, at noong pagaling na ako ay na-diagnose naman ako ng cancer, leukemia, cancer ng dugo,” the now-Ombudsman said.
According to Ombudsman Boying Remulla, he went through two (2) cycles of chemotherapy and body irradiation after he was diagnosed with leukemia. The then-Justice Secretary also revealed that he received a bone marrow transplant from his child.
“Ang bone marrow transplant, ‘pag wala ka nang white blood cells, lalagyan ka ng stem cell ng donor para magkaroon ka ng bagong bone marrow para palitan ‘yung bone marrow. ‘Yung ang pinaka-factory ng dugo, kaya ang dugo ko ngayon ay hindi na ‘yung dati kong dugo. Ito ay dugo na galing sa aking anak,” he said.
Ombudsman Boying Remulla stressed that he and his child are a “full match” and the prognosis looks good. Based on the report, he stressed that while there are still a lot of challenges after his leukemia treatment, he keeps going and “just live by the day”. He believes that he still has work to do in this world.