Iglesia sentiments will not influence NBI findings vs VP Sara – Remulla

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JUSTICE Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla yesterday said the mammoth peace rally held by the religious group Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) will not influence the outcome of the ongoing review of the findings of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on the supposed death threats made by Vice President Sara Duterte against President Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos and Speaker Martin Romualdez.

In a chance interview, Remulla said government prosecutors will not be swayed by the sentiments of INC members.

“I don’t think so because we just have to look at the law as something that equalizes everything between all of us. That’s why we cannot give special favors to people because of standing,” Remulla said when asked if the INC peace rally will have an impact on the assessment being done by prosecutors.

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The NBI has completed its investigation on the remarks of Vice President during a midnight media briefing in November last year where she bared that she had supposedly contacted a hitman to kill the First Couple and the Speaker “if something bad happens to me.”

Malacañang has expressed alarm over the Vice President’s statements during the briefing, while the National Security Council has said the remarks can be considered a national security concern because it involves the President.

Duterte later on said her statement was not a direct threat but a hypothetical scenario.

The NBI opened an inquiry into the incident and invited Duterte to explain her side, but the Vice President repeatedly skipped the hearings and refused to appear before investigators.

She instead sent a letter to the NBI denying that she threatened the lives of the Marcos couple and Romualdez.

She also asked the NBI to look into what she said were threats to her life.

The Vice President called for the midnight media briefing after a committee of the House of Representatives ordered the transfer of her chief of staff, lawyer Zuleika Lopez, from the House detention facility to the Correctional Institution for Women in Mandaluyong City.

Lopez was cited in contempt for her supposed “undue interference” in the committee’s probe on the Office of the Vice President’s (OVP) use of confidential funds.

In a media briefing in Malacañang last Monday, Prosecutor General Richard Fadullon announced that the NBI has wrapped up its probe and that the NPS is now reviewing and validating its findings.

Fadullon said that if the NPS determines that the NBI has sufficient evidence against the Vice President, they will start building up a case that will be filed before the Department of Justice (DOJ).

“Depending on the outcome (of the review), we will be able to make a recommendation whether to have it considered filed already before the department (DOJ) and/or to return it to the NBI if there’s a need to build up the case further and add to the evidence that they have,” Fadullon said.

Remulla said the NBI director Jaime Santiago is expected to formally submit their report “very soon.”

Remulla said the NPS review will also be not influenced by the Vice President’s announcement that she is seriously considering running for president in 2028.

“It’s not an issue. The issue is whether or not a criminal act was committed. Of course, we have to look at it from the merits’ standpoint – the merits of the case or cases,” he said.

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