Ombudsman pushing through with plunder case vs Marcoleta

MANILA, Philippines, July 2 ------ Amid religious sect Iglesia ni Cristo’s rallies, the Office of the Ombudsman will proceed with filing plunder charges in court this week against INC member Sen. Rodante Marcoleta. “Nothing has changed. We will file. This has not changed anything,” Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla said in a chance interview.

While the INC has freedom of expression to stage a rally in support of Marcoleta, Remulla said the claim of “selective justice” is a “wrong premise.” Meanwhile, Malacañang urged the INC to avoid becoming a pathway to destabilization as the INC rally along EDSA entered its second day yesterday to protest the looming court indictment and possible arrest of Marcoleta.

Palace press officer Claire Castro said that while the administration believes the INC rally is not meant to destabilize the government, the religious group should be wary of people seeking to oust President Marcos. “Our appeal to the leadership of the INC is to be careful because they might be used by other people who aim to oust the President,” Castro said at a press briefing.

If the rally extends to tomorrow as originally requested by its organizers, the government would not prevent INC members from holding it as long as they follow the law, she said. Castro reiterated that the administration respects the right to free expression and protesters would be dealt with maximum tolerance. “So, we hope they will not provoke the members of our police,” she said. Castro also assailed the President’s estranged sister Sen. Imee Marcos for claiming during the first day of the INC rally that the administration is “bangag” (drug intoxicated) and sleeping on the job.

She said Imee, an ally of Vice President Sara Duterte, is relying on “fake news” to malign the government. “Obstructionists like the senator are pitiful... But those who clapped while listening to Sen. Imee Marcos are more pitiful because they probably do not know that the stories Sen. Imee Marcos was telling are baseless,” Castro said.

Present during yesterday’s INC rally were Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano and Senator Marcos. In his speech, Cayetano slammed the ombudsman for its “selective justice,” assailing the agency for its interpretation of plunder. “If that was plunder, maybe half of those in government ought to be jailed because of donations,” he claimed.

Batangas 1st district Rep. Leandro Leviste, who was again in EDSA yesterday, urged people not to label the gathering as an “INC rally,” because many attendees were allegedly not members of the religious group.

Source: philstar.com