Maute cases transferred to Taguig

MANILA, Philippines — The Supreme Court on Tuesday designated the regional trial courts of Taguig City to handle all cases related to the Maute group's siege of Marawi City.

The high tribunal released the resolution following the letters of Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II to designate Taguig City courts to handle such cases instead of the regional trial court of Cagayan de Oro City.

SC spokesperson Theodore Te noted that the Taguig City court was designated to speedily act on all prosecutions and incidents arising from violent incidents in Marawi City.

"In the resolution, the court also designated a special intensive care area located along Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City instead of Camp Evangelista in Patag, Cagayan de Oro City as a temporary detention facility of any suspects subject to its instruction to the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology to expedite the relocation of any suspects to a suitable detention facility," Te said in a televised press conference.

READ: SC assigns prospective Maute cases to CDO court

The SC earlier rejected the request of Aguirre to form special courts in Luzon and Visayas to hear the cases filed against members of the Maute terror group.

The high court then designated the regional trial court of Cagayan de Oro City to handle the cases against the Maute group.

Last month, Aguirre announced that persons charged with rebellion over the Marawi crisis will be detained at Camp Bagong Diwa.

The Justice secretary claimed that he and Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno agreed that they could establish at least two courtrooms for the charged persons.