Justice Sec Remulla meets PNP to strategize vs Sen Marcos' complaints

Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla met with Philippine National Police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group officials led by Maj. Gen. Nicolas Torre to discuss their legal strategy in response to criminal and administrative complaints filed by Senator Imee Marcos.

Marcos submitted the complaints at the Office of the Ombudsman regarding the arrest and surrender of former President Rodrigo Duterte to the International Criminal Court (ICC) on March 11.

Remulla stated that there are 'many problems' with Marcos' complaints, including a lack of fact-finding phase and sworn statements, and criticized the Ombudsman for prioritizing this case over other unresolved cases such as the Pharmally case involving P10 billion in stolen funds.

In an interview on Thursday, Remulla said he called his colleagues to coordinate their defense strategy before answering the chairman's report submitted by Marcos.

During Friday's meeting, Remulla and Torre agreed to seek more time from the Ombudsman due to pending cases before the Supreme Court which may pose a prejudicial question on the Ombudsman cases.

Remulla stressed that it is difficult to answer sub judice matters, as court rules disallow lawyers from discussing pending cases publicly.